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Germany: Police arrest armed man at school in Brandenburg

March 8, 2024

Police have arrested a man who broke into a school in Brandenburg near Berlin carrying a knife and an alarm gun. He was seen early in the morning, triggered an alarm, and emergency services overpowered and arrested him.

https://p.dw.com/p/4dJMG
Several police vehicles outside a school in Petershagen, east of Berlin in Brandenburg, Germany.
The alarm was raised before classes started, the suspect was overpowered and detained by policeImage: Christophe Gateau/dpa/picture alliance

Police announced that a gunman was arrested on Friday at a school in Petershagen near the  German capital, Berlin.

The police said a security alarm was raised at the school at around 7:15 a.m. (0615 GMT/UTC) when a man carrying a knife and a gun was seen to have entered the school premises.

The suspect, who police said was 22 years old, was carrying a so-called alarm gun used to fire blanks, not real bullets.

He was overpowered by emergency services in the area around the school before he was arrested, a spokesperson said.

Police said the gunman and a police officer sustained slight injuries during the operation but that nobody else was hurt.

At the time of the incident, before classes were set to start, only teachers, other school staff, and employees of a gardening company were on the school premises. Pupils were not yet in the building.

After the arrest, the school's morning classes were canceled, and officers searched the neighborhood for other sources of danger or potential accomplices. The motive is still unclear.

ssa/msh (dpa, AFP)