- The shooter drove through a barrier at Hamburg Airport around 8 p.m. local time
Hamburg airport was closed due to a “hostage situation” after a gunman rammed a vehicle containing two children through a security gate and then fired a gun into the air.
The gunman broke through an airport barrier around 8 p.m. local time (7 p.m. GMT) and fired a gun twice, federal police said.
After firing the shots, the man threw two lit bottles from the vehicle, they added.
The man’s distraught wife had desperately called the police about a possible child abduction.
The shooter is said to have had two children in the car – and the Hamburg police tweeted that it was a “static hostage situation”.
Numerous state and federal police officers were on site and in the vicinity of the vehicle, federal police spokesman Thomas Gerbert told the German Press Agency.
Police said no one appeared to be injured, but the airport said it was currently closed to takeoffs and landings.
Police vehicles and ambulances arrive at the scene of the accident at Hamburg Airport
After firing the shots, the man threw two lit bottles out of the vehicle. Footage showed fires on the tarmac
Police guard the scene of a security breach at Hamburg Airport after a vehicle broke through
Fire brigade vehicles reach a safety location at Hamburg Airport. Flights were canceled
After the shocking incident, special forces are arriving at Hamburg airport this evening
Firefighters, rescue workers and police officers stand in front of Hamburg airport while the police deal with a “hostage situation”.
The Hamburg police tweeted that there was a “large police operation” with a “large contingent of emergency services” at the airport.
They added: “We are currently assuming a static hostage situation.”
Bild reports that the shooter drove in front of Terminal 1 in an Audi without a license plate.
The driver initially sped away, but a few minutes later broke through a security barrier at the north gate and drove towards the planes.
He is said to have started several fires in the airport area by throwing burning bottles out of the car. Police spokesman Gerbert described them as “a kind of Molotov cocktails”.
Footage shared on social media shows flames on the tarmac as firefighters rushed to the scene.
An airport spokesman said 27 flights were affected.
Hamburg airport closed due to “hostage situation” after gunman “rammed a car with two children inside through the gate and then fired twice into the air”