Terror motive ‘not ruled out’ in Germany hostage-taking

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - German authorities said on Monday that they could not rule out terrorism as a possible motive for today’s hostage-taking incident in Cologne Central Station.

The 55-year-old suspect was shot during a rescue operation and hospitalized in critical condition, Police Vice President Miriam Brauns told a news conference in Cologne.

“We are investigating in all directions, and not ruling out a possible terror attack,” Brauns said.

The woman who was held hostage by the suspect for almost two hours at a pharmacy inside Cologne’s main railway station sustained light injuries.

A 14-year-old girl was also injured when the suspect threw a Molotov cocktail inside a nearby McDonald's restaurant, before taking the other woman hostage.

Klaus Rueschenschmidt, head of operations at the police department, said several witnesses claimed that the suspect told them he was a member of the terrorist group Daesh, and threatened to burn people at the restaurant unless his demands were met.

The police had found an ID document belonging to a Syrian refugee in the pharmacy, and believed that it belonged to the perpetrator.