February 21, 2020

Andrew Campbell 

In the evening on February 19, a gunman first assaulted the Midnight shisha bar at Heumarkt in the center of Hanau, 25 kilometers (12 miles) east of Frankfurt killing at least 3 people. And then, the gunman drove 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) to the Arena Bar & Cafe in Kurt-Schumacher-Platz in the western Kesselstadt district of Hanau and opened fire again and killed 5 people there. Shisha bars are popular places where people smoke a pipe known as shisha or hookah.

German federal prosecutors quickly identified the suspect, Tobias Rathjen, through witness testimony and surveillance cameras. Police later raided his apartment and found him dead at his home with his mother’s dead body with gunshot wounds. Police believed the gunman returned home after his shooting rampage and shot his mother and himself.

German federal prosecutors said the suspected perpetrator, a 43-year-old German, has indications of a right-wing extremist background. Investigators said all 9 victims were of immigrant origin, while at least 5 had Turkish citizenship, several were of Kurdish descent. In recent years far-right attacks have become a particular concern for German authorities. While German is filled with anger, fear and mourning over the Hanau shooting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned in her response to the killings: "Racism is poison."

Photo:Webshot.