Germany: Man shoots woman then himself in court
June 3, 2021
A man fatally shot a woman and then himself on Thursday on the grounds of the district court of the German city of Celle, just north of Hanover, a police spokeswoman said.
The circumstances surrounding the crime are now being investigated, spokeswoman Birgit Insinger said.
Celle's local newspaper, the Cellesche Zeitung, reported that a legal dispute was behind the crime.
"That could have been so. But it is still part of the investigations," said Insinger.
She could not confirm whether there was a relationship between the perpetrator, 78, and the victim, 49.
Legal dispute backdrop
The two appeared at the district court over an eviction case, the magazine Legal Tribune Online reported. The man had been the tenant, and the woman the landlady of the flat.
Police said the perpetrator fired the fatal shots between 10:00 and 10:20 Thursday morning.
"Attention, we have a police situation on Mühlenstraße. We are on site. Please refrain from asking questions for the time being," Celle police said on Twitter, naming the street where the district court (Amtsgericht Celle) is located.
mvb, jsi/msh (dpa)