Security guards stand outside the Kinopolis movie theater in Viernheim. (Photo/Screen snap from CCTV)
(ECNS) -- The Chinese consulate general in Frankfurt confirmed to China News Service late Thursday that no Chinese had been found injured during a hostage crisis at a movie theater in Viernheim, in the German state of Hesse.
The crisis was declared over at 5:58 p.m. on Thursday after German police killed a masked gunman, who broke into the Kinopolis movie theater at about 3 p.m. and took an unknown number of people hostage. The man fired at least four shots during a confrontation with police, witnesses said.
Police said nobody else was injured during the incident. But German media reports said several dozen people suffered injuries resulting from tear gas used by police.
Investigations into the case were ongoing, and the Chinese consulate general said it was keeping close watch on the latest developments.
Viernheim is close to Baden-Württemberg's third largest city, Mannheim, and is about 75 kilometers from Hesse's largest city, Frankfurt.
The gunman's motivations remained unknown, as did the total number of hostages who had been taken.
Peter Beuth, the state interior minister of Hesse, said in a briefing that the man showed signs of mental illness.
Beuth also denied local media reports rumoring that 25 to 50 people had been injured during the incident.
Germany's security authority said preliminary assessments showed that the attack was a stand-alone incident that resulted from the gunman's mental state, and was not being treated as a terrorist attack.
