German gunman called for race ‘extermination’

43-year-old shot dead nine people, all with foreign backgrounds

A German man who posted a manifesto calling for the “complete extermination” of many “races or cultures in our midst” shot dead nine people of foreign background, most of them Turkish, in an attack on a hookah bar and other sites in a Frankfurt suburb.

The 43-year-old was later found dead at his home along with his mother, and authorities said they were treating the rampage as an act of domestic terrorism.

The gunman first attacked the hookah bar and a neighbouring cafe in Hanau at about 10pm local time on Wednesday, killing several people, then travelled about 2.5km (1.5 miles) and opened fire again, first on a car and then a sports bar, claiming more victims.

The bloodshed came amid growing concerns about far-right violence in Germany and steppedup efforts from authorities to crack down on it, including last week’s detention of a dozen men on suspicion of planning attacks against politicians and minorities.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said the shootings exposed the “poison” of racism in Germany, and she pledged to stand up against those who seek to divide the country.

“There is much to indicate that the perpetrator acted out of far-right extremist, racist motives,” she said. People of Turkish background make up Germany’s single largest minority, and Turkey’s ambassador said five of the people killed in the attack were Turkish citizens.

Germany’s federal prosecutor Peter Frank said all nine people killed were of foreign backgrounds and that six others were injured, one seriously. Investigators said it appeared the gunman acted alone, but Mr Frank said the “goal of the investigation is to find out whether there were, or are, people who knew of or supported” the attacks.

He added that his office was looking into any contacts the killer may have had inside Germany and abroad.

Kadir Kose, who ran over from a cafe he runs nearby after hearing the first shots, said he was shocked at

Investigators secure forensic evidence at the scene of the shooting the extent of the violence. While fights or stabbings are not unheard of, he said, “this is a whole other level, something we hear about from America”.

Witnesses and surveillance videos of the getaway car led authorities quickly to the gunman’s home, said Peter Beuth, interior minister for the state of Hesse.

Both the attacker and his 72-year-old mother had gunshot wounds, and the weapon was found on him, Mr Beuth said.

Mr Frank identified the gunman only as Tobias R, in line with German privacy laws, and confirmed he had posted extremist videos and a manifesto with “confused ideas and far-fetched conspiracy theories” on his website.

The man identified himself as Tobias Rathjen on the website, which has now been taken down, with an address matching where the bodies of the killer and his mother were found.

In the manifesto, Rathjen claimed to have approached police several times with conspiracy theories, but Mr Beuth said it does not appear the gunman had a criminal record or was on the radar of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.

A special forces officer works on a robot before searching a house in Hanau

MOURNING: A man places flowers near a hookah bar where nine people were killed on Wednesday night and several others were injured