Incident in Krefeld: What we know - and what we don't

The police shoot a suspect in the foyer of a cinema in Krefeld. There are new findings from the police.

Krefeld (dpa) – Police operation in Krefeld: The police shoot a suspect, he is injured. What happened?

What we know

No attempted attack: On Friday morning the police announced that there was no evidence of a terrorist attack.
The suspect: Police shot and killed a 38-year-old man. According to the information, the suspect was injured and is in hospital for treatment. The police believe it was a lone perpetrator. According to the police, it is a man from Krefeld with Iraqi nationality.
The process: According to the police, the man started three fires in the Cracau district of Krefeld, meaning that an apartment, a parked vehicle and an office building near the train station burned within a very short space of time. There are smashed windows at the employment office and on a white minibus belonging to the Caritas outpatient drug service. Shortly afterwards, the suspect was gunned down in the foyer of a cinema near the main train station when he allegedly tried to set another fire there. He was arrested.
The danger: According to the police’s current findings, the man did not hurt anyone. Shortly after the man’s arrest, the police assumed that there was no longer any further danger to the population. No one was injured in the three fires.
The investigators and the crime scene: The area around the cinema, which is located at the main train station, was cordoned off over a large area. The criminal police conducted further investigations into the specific course of the crime, the possible connection between the arson offenses and the motive for the crime.

The motive: There is still no information about the man’s motive. The exact motive is still unclear and is part of the investigation, it was said in the morning.
It is not yet known how the man tried to set a fire in the cinema and whether he was armed.
According to an unconfirmed report from “Bild”, the suspect is said to have hurled an incendiary device into the Federal Employment Agency building at 7:50 p.m. The police initially did not provide any information. Two broken windows could be seen from the outside of the employment office during the night. According to WDR information, the man wanted to go to the cinema with a Molotov cocktail and another weapon.
It is unclear how seriously the 38-year-old was injured and whether he is fit for questioning.
It is also unknown how many people were in the cinema foyer during the incident.

An office of the employment center was damaged.