BERLIN (AP) — A lone gunman opened fire during a lecture at Heidelberg University in southwestern Germany on Monday and wounded four people, some of them seriously, before killing himself, police said.
The man opened fire with a long-barreled firearm in a lecture hall and then fled outside, police said. They stressed that they believe he was acting alone and there was no longer any danger.
There was no immediate word on a possible motive. Officers at the scene could be seen examining two firearms and a bag.
Police said that the perpetrator was dead, and spokesman Stefan Wilhelm said on regional broadcaster SWR that he killed himself. They had earlier asked people on Twitter to avoid the Neuenheimer Feld area, home to a large university campus.
Authorities wouldn’t confirm a report by German news agency dpa that one victim died of her injuries a few hours after being shot in the head, citing unidentified security sources. A news conference was expected Monday evening.
The dpa agency also reported, without citing sources, that the gunman is believed to have been a student himself, and that security officials say initial indications are that he didn’t have any political or religious motive.
Heidelberg is located south of Frankfurt and has about 160,000 inhabitants. Its university is one of Germany’s best-known.
