Two people were killed by gunfire in a supermarket in Schwalmstadt, North Hesse. According to witnesses, a 58-year-old first shot and killed a 53-year-old woman and then shot himself. No other people were injured, police said.
Two people were killed by gunshots in a supermarket in Schwalmstadt in northern Hesse. That is what the police said. Investigators assume that a man first killed a woman and then himself. Witnesses reported that unanimously.
“After the first investigations into the course of the crime, there is currently no evidence of the involvement of third parties.” The alleged perpetrator was therefore a 58-year-old, and the shot was a 53-year-old woman. The relationship between them is still unclear. No other people were harmed in the act, the police said. Witnesses and those affected by the crime would be cared for on site. There is no danger to the population or bystanders.
According to the police, the shots were fired shortly after 1 p.m. in a discount store on Wierastrasse. “Two people were found lifeless in the market,” tweeted the police headquarters in North Hesse. According to their own statements, the police deployed with strong forces. The area around the grocery store was cordoned off over a large area. It is now about securing evidence, said a spokesman for the presidium. According to the public prosecutor’s office in Marburg, the accused man’s apartment is also being searched.
According to a report by the “Hessisch-Niedersächsische-Allgemeine”, which refers to a witness, the 58-year-old is said to have initially pursued the woman in the branch in the Treysa district. She is said to have called out loud for help, but was then shot by her pursuer. The man then directed himself with the gun.
The Hessian state parliament president Astrid Wallmann reacted to the news during a state parliament session and thanked the emergency services in Schwalmstadt. On behalf of the state parliament, she expressed her heartfelt condolences to the relatives. Wallmann informed the MPs between two speeches in the plenary debate that followed the government statement by CDU Prime Minister Boris Rhein.
Schwalmstadt is about halfway between Marburg and Kassel and is the largest city in the Schwalm-Eder district. As of December 31, 2020, the municipality had around 18,000 inhabitants.
