The Stuttgart police discovered a man with two knives in the entrance to a burning apartment. He is arrested. Two people do not survive the fire. Investigators believe the events are connected.
A burning apartment and a suspect armed with two knives: After a completely unclear situation in Stuttgart, two people died. A suspect was arrested, police said. What exactly happened before that was initially uncertain. But in the end, a 53-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man are dead. The police were initially unable to say whether the suspect attacked them with knives or whether they died in the fire. For tactical reasons, a spokeswoman for the authority initially did not want to say what kind of injuries the two had suffered.
In the afternoon there was a large-scale police operation: the fire brigade was on the way back from another operation and discovered - apparently by accident - clouds of smoke above the building in the Feuerbach district. The armed man stood in front of the entrance - and made it impossible for the emergency services to get into the burning house, as a police spokeswoman said. The firefighters had to wait for the police to be called.
When the 45-year-old was arrested, the police fired a shot, the authority said in a statement. However, the suspect was not injured. Pictures show emergency services overpowering a man lying on the ground. It was not said what condition he was in when he was arrested and whether he resisted.
Firefighters were only able to get into the burning house when the gunman was arrested. First, the emergency services rescued the woman and the man from the flames - but both later succumbed to their serious injuries in the hospital. Both were in the burning apartment, said a police spokesman. Whether and how they were known to each other or related is the subject of the investigation. Pictures show the emergency services trying to use a turntable ladder to help through a roof window of the house.
Even hours later, the situation is completely unclear. What was the connection between the man's arrest and the fire? Not clear, according to the police. Did the suspect know the victims? There is no information about this either. The criminal police have taken over the investigation, in particular the process and background of the crime, it said. Police also have video footage of police using firearms. Forensics workers were on site.
