Policeman shot by extremist dies

A German police officer has died a day after being shot by an extremist who had hoarded dozens of weapons at his home.

The 32-year-old officer succumbed to his injuries in hospital, said Elke Schoenwald, a spokeswoman for police in the Middle Franconia region.

Three other officers were injured in the shoot out – one from gunfire and two others by flying glass.

An armed unit had been sent to the suspect’s home in the Bavarian town of Georgensgmuend on Wednesday to confiscate more than 30 weapons he legally possessed for hunting.

Local authorities had revoked the 49-year-old’s licence because he appeared increasingly unreliable, Ms Schoenwald said.

The man, whom police did not identify, had a history of defying authorities and refused to allow officials to conduct a check on the weapons over the summer, she said.

The suspect was a supporter of the Reich Citizens’ Movement, an extremist group that refuses to acknowledge the authority of the post-war Federal Republic of Germany. Germany’s top security official said measures needed to be taken to ensure officers do not become victims of violence.

“The increasing number of attacks by extremists is unbearable and unacceptable,” interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said.

A recent report by Berlin’s state intelligence service describes the movement as “an extremely diverse range of small groups and individuals who believe in an ideological mixture of conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic and anti-democratic views, and who have been behaving increasingly aggressively for some time”.

The house of the Reich member is taped off by police