German officials: 4 dead, 1 wounded after hospital shooting and apartment blast

Germany: 4 die after blast, shooting

BERLIN — Four people died and a policeman was seriously wounded in a town in southwestern Germany on Sunday, after an explosion in an apartment building and a shooting in the neighboring hospital that authorities believe are linked, a prosecutor said.

Two people were found dead in an apartment building that burst into flames after an explosion Sunday afternoon, Loerrach prosecutor Dieter Inhofer told ZDF public television.

Another woman, allegedly armed with a weapon, was seen running from the blast into the neighboring St. Elisabeth hospital, where she reportedly opened fire, killing a member of the hospital staff, Inhofer said.

The woman then turned her gun on officers responding to the shooting and was killed in an exchange of gunfire, Inhofer said. One police officer was seriously wounded, Inhofer said, but authorities believe there were no other victims in the hospital.

“There was a very heavy exchange of gunfire in the hospital that had the potential to be very dangerous, but based on what we know right now … no one else was injured,” Inhofer said.

Police in the town of Loerrach, near the Swiss and French borders, are investigating. Authorities are still searching for a motive for the shooting.