Far-right extremist mows down 9 at hookah bar outside Frankfurt

Some of the victims in the massacre were of Kurdish descent.

By Associated Press

Nine people were killed and four wounded in the German city of Hanau near Frankfurt when a right-wing extremist opened fire outside two hookah lounges frequented mainly by Kurds.

The shooter was found dead at his home early Thursday, hours after the attacks, police said.

Officers also found another body at the same address.

According to the German paper Bild, the shooter was identified as Tobias R. He said that certain people who could no longer be deported from Germany should be destroyed.

Some of the victims in the massacre were of Kurdish descent.

Police said “there are currently no indications of further perpetrators.”

“Thoughts this morning are with the people of Hanau, in whose midst this terrible crime was committed,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said on Twitter.

“Deep sympathy for the affected families, who are grieving for their dead,” the spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said. “We hope with those wounded that they will soon recover.”

Police officers swarmed central Hanau after the shooting, cordoning off the area of one of the shootings as a helicopter hovered overhead. A car covered in thermal foil also could be seen, with shattered glass next to it. Forensic experts in white overalls collected evidence.

“This was a terrible evening that will certainly occupy us for a long, long time and we will remember with sadness,” Hanau Mayor Claus Kaminsky told Bild.

Lawmaker Katja Leikert, a member of Merkel’s center-right party who represents Hanau in the German parliament, tweeted that it was “a real horror scenario for us all.”

Hanau is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Frankfurt. It has about 100,000 inhabitants and is in Hesse state.

Hookah lounges are places where people gather to smoke flavored tobacco from Middle Eastern water pipes.

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