Gunman takes several hostages at German apartment

Published November 20, 2014

A gunman in southern Germany took hostages and fired shots, possibly killing one person, when court bailiffs sought to remove him from his apartment Wednesday morning in a dispute over rent, police said.

Karlsruhe police spokesman Juergen Scheufer said two bailiffs went to the man's apartment building at about 9 a.m. to eject him for failing to pay his rent, and then multiple shots were filed.

Scheufer said there have been reports of one person killed and several taken hostage, but it was not possible to confirm them at this point.

"We have heard there could be one dead but we can't confirm that because we haven't had any contact with the hostage taker," Scheufer said in a telephone interview.

The entire area in the Nordstadt section of the city has been blocked off, and police commando teams are on hand trying to make contact with the suspect, Scheufer said.

He said he did not know how many hostages there could be, but neither of the bailiffs is accounted for.

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