Two killed in livestreamed attacking targeting German synagogue
HALLE, Germany — An apparent rightwing extremist on Wednesday attacked a synagogue with guns and explosive devices in the eastern German city of Halle on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day.
After the heavily armed man was thwarted in his attempt to get inside the building, he killed two people and injured two others outside, with footage of the attack broadcast on an internet livestreaming platform.
The rampage comes amid heated public debate about the safety of Jews in Germany following a string of anti-Semitic crimes in the country.
The bloodshed in Germany bore resemblance to the massacre by a suspected white supremacist who killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand six month ago, in an attack that was shown live on Facebook.
For a short time, a video filmed by the Halle attacker was available on the livestreaming platform Twitch. It has since been deleted.
On Wednesday afternoon, the attacker, wearing a steel helmet and boots, placed homemade explosive devices in front of the Halle synagogue and attempted to enter it, security sources told dpa. Several shots were also fired.
Halle Jewish community leader Max Privorotzki said there were between 70 and 80 worshippers inside the synagogue at the time and that its security personnel prevented his advance into the building.
At some point, the attacker shot dead a woman outside the synagogue. It was unclear whether she was associated with the synagogue or just passing by.
Local media reported that shortly after the attacker failed to enter the synagogue, a grenade or improvised explosive device was thrown into an adjacent Jewish cemetery.
A second victim — a man — was then killed at a nearby kebab shop.
The suspected shooter’s video showed people being fired upon and a man lying behind a refrigerator in the kebab shop being shot several times. It appears to have been filmed on a camera attached to a helmet.
The attacker then fled the scene and apparently threatened a taxi driver and two other people, before crashing a car and being detained.