Berlin – The interior minister of the German state of Hesse said on Thursday that there was a xenophobic motive to the shooting in Hanau and said the suspected perpetrator and his mother had been found dead with shot wounds at his home.
Peter Beuth said investigations were ongoing as to whether there were any letters of confession – on which newspaper Bild has reported. He added that he could not say who was visiting the shisha bars at the time of attack.
Beuth said the perpetrator was in legal possession of arms and was a sports marksman.
The suspected right-wing extremist shot nine people dead in two shisha bars in an overnight rampage through a German city before, police believe, returning home and killing himself.
Federal prosecutors said they had taken charge of investigations into the attack – which happened late on Wednesday in Hanau, east of Frankfurt – due to indications it had an extremist motive.