A shooting in the central German town of Wächtersbach left a 26-year-old Eritrean wounded, with the shooter fleeing the scene. On Monday afternoon, police found the "apparently lifeless" body of the suspected shooter in a neighboring town. The man was taken to the local hospital and soon died.

Authorities did not say how the 56-year-old lost his life, but stressed that "the death of the suspected shooter was not caused by police forces." According to a report in Germany's Spiegel magazine, investigators assume that the man, who was a German national, killed himself.

The wounded Eritrean, however, underwent an operation and his condition seemed to be stable.

Frankfurt prosecutors said that a motive of xenophobia should be "taken into consideration." According to Spiegel, the authorities searched the apartment of the suspected shooter and found objects indicating he was a right-wing extremist.

German authorities were due to share more information about the case on Tuesday.

Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here. </s> A shooting in the central German town of Wächtersbach left a 26-year-old Eritrean wounded, with the shooter fleeing the scene. On Monday afternoon, police found the "apparently lifeless" body of the suspected shooter in a car in the neighboring town of Biebergemünd. The man was taken to the local hospital and soon died.

"We are currently working on the assumption of a very clear xenophobic motive," a spokesman for Frankfurt state prosecutors said on Tuesday, adding that the victim, currently in a stable condition in hospital, was chosen "because of his skin color."

The incident happened near Kassel, scene of the killing in early June of the conservative politician Walter Lübcke. The main suspect in that death is Stephan E., a known neo-Nazi who is now in custody.

Authorities did not say how the 55-year-old lost his life, but stressed that "the death of the suspected shooter was not caused by police forces." According to a report in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, who was a German national, killed himself.

The wounded Eritrean underwent an operation and his condition seemed to be stable.

According to local public broadcaster hr, investigators found a note written by the suspected perpetrator apparently about the crime, and Frankfurt prosecutors have said that a motive of xenophobia should be "taken into consideration."

Der Spiegel reported that police searched the apartment of the suspected shooter and found objects indicating he was a right-wing extremist.

German authorities were due to share more information about the case on Tuesday.

Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here. </s> A 26-year-old Eritrean national became the victim of a "xenophobic" attack when a 55-year-old German man shot him in the stomach from his car before shooting himself in the head, according to prosecutors.

A spokesman for the Frankfurt prosecutor's office said that the perpetrator had been acting out of racist hatred when he shot the Eritrean man in the town of Waechtersbach in the central state of Hesse late Monday.

The 26-year-old seems to have been a random victim, the spokesman added on Tuesday.

Investigators have not been able to link the shooter to any particular right-wing extremist group and the reasons he subsequently killed himself with a shot to the head have yet to be determined.

The spokesman said that two semi-automatic weapons were found in the shooter's car and further weapons - all owned legally - were found in a subsequent raid on the perpetrator's house.

The victim was brought to the hospital but his condition is now stable, according to local media reports. </s> A shooting in the central German town of Wächtersbach left a 26-year-old Eritrean wounded, with the shooter fleeing the scene. On Monday afternoon, police found the "apparently lifeless" body of the suspected shooter in a car in the neighboring town of Biebergemünd. The man was taken to the local hospital and soon died.

"We are currently working on the assumption of a very clear xenophobic motive," a spokesman for Frankfurt state prosecutors said on Tuesday, adding that the victim, currently in a stable condition in hospital, was chosen "because of his skin color," and that the dead suspect had been seeking out a victim.

A search of the man's home confirmed suspicions of a racist motive, a spokesman said, without naming any more details.

Authorities did not say how the 55-year-old lost his life, but stressed that "the death of the suspected shooter was not caused by police forces." According to a report in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, who was a German national, killed himself.

The incident happened near Kassel, scene of the killing in early June of the conservative politician Walter Lübcke. The main suspect in that death is Stephan E., a known neo-Nazi who is now in custody.

But despite the indications of a racist motive, the prosecutor's spokesman added, "we have no valid evidence that there were contacts to the right-wing nationalist or far-right scene," though he emphasized the investigation was still in its early stages.

According to local public broadcaster hr, investigators found a note written by the suspected perpetrator apparently about the crime, and Frankfurt prosecutors have said that a motive of xenophobia should be "taken into consideration."

Der Spiegel reported that police searched the apartment of the suspected shooter and found objects indicating he was a right-wing extremist.

German authorities were due to share more information about the case on Tuesday.

Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here. </s> Prosecutors say an Eritrean man has been shot and seriously wounded in western Germany and that the suspect, who apparently had an anti-foreigner motive, fatally shot himself hours later.

Alexander Badle, a spokesman for prosecutors in Frankfurt, said Tuesday the 26-year-old Eritrean was shot in the stomach Monday lunchtime in nearby Waechsterbach. He was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery and his life is not in danger.

About three hours later, a 55-year-old German man was found in his car in a neighboring town. He had shot himself in the head.

Badle said Tuesday the victim appeared to have been chosen at random because of his skin color. Authorities have no evidence yet that the suspect had ties to far-right groups. </s> A shooting in the central German town of Wächtersbach left a 26-year-old Eritrean wounded, with the shooter fleeing the scene. On Monday afternoon, police found the "apparently lifeless" body of the suspected shooter in a car in the neighboring town of Biebergemünd. The man died later in hospital.

"We are currently working on the assumption of a very clear xenophobic motive," a spokesman for Frankfurt state prosecutors said on Tuesday, adding that the victim, currently in a stable condition following an operation, was chosen "because of his skin color," and that the dead suspect had been seeking out a victim.

A search of the man's home confirmed suspicions of a racist motive, a spokesman said. Investigators found a letter apparently referring to the crime in the apartment, as well as three firearms (a semi-automatic handgun and two rifles, all legally owned). The suspected perpetrator had also recently sold another gun, the spokesman said, which had also been tracked down and seized.

Authorities did not say how the 55-year-old lost his life, but stressed that "the death of the suspected shooter was not caused by police forces." According to a report in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, who was a German national, killed himself.

The incident happened near Kassel, scene of the killing in early June of the conservative politician Walter Lübcke. The main suspect in that death is Stephan E., a known neo-Nazi who is now in custody.

Despite the indications of a racist motive, the prosecutor's spokesman added, "we have no valid evidence that there were contacts to the right-wing nationalist or far-right scene," though he emphasized the investigation was still in its early stages.

The town of Wächtersbach is due to hold a vigil at the crime scene on Tuesday as a protest against far-right violence, which is currently experiencing a new rise in Germany.

The killing of Walter Lübcke by a suspected neo-Nazi in Kassel has refocussed attention on far-right terrorism in Germany in recent weeks.

Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here. </s> German authorities have opened a murder investigation against a man who pushed an eight-year-old boy and his mother in front of an oncoming train in a Frankfurt station on Monday, according to reports.

The 40-year-old man from Eritrea is being investigated on charges of murder and attempted murder after he was arrested outside the station following the incident, according to media reports.

Shocked bystanders watched as the man pushed the boy and his mother onto the tracks. The boy was killed by the impact of the train, while his mother survived after she rolled out of harm’s way into a narrow space beside the rails.

After the incident, the man attempted to run away from the station but was stopped by bystanders until police officers arrested him.

In a press conference after the incident, German authorities said the man had also unsuccessfully attempted to push another woman, 78, onto the tracks.

The man, named only as A. by German police, had been living in Switzerland since 2008, where he was granted asylum after fleeing his native Eritrea.

Media reports on Tuesday revealed that he is married with three children and that he did not know any of his victims.

While German officials said that the man had a steady job and was considered to be “well-integrated” into Swiss society, he had recently been on the radar of Swiss police after reportedly threatening a neighbour for unclear reasons.

The man is thought to have travelled to Frankfurt a few days before the incident, but the motives behind his actions remain unclear.

German news agency dpa said that he was going to be submitted to a psychiatric test and police have ruled out that he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the attack.

Additional media reports say that there is no evidence that the incident is linked with the recent shooting of another Eritrean national by a far-right sympathizer in a town east of Frankfurt.

The incident shocked Germany and the world, and people in Frankfurt have been laying flowers and candles at the site of the incident, with a memorial planned later on Tuesday. </s> Police markings on the road where the bullets had been fired

An Eritrean man was wounded in the stomach in a drive-by shooting in central Germany in what police have condemned as a xenophobic attack.

The gunman targeted his victim "completely at random and purely because of the colour skin," said Frankfurt prosecutor Alexander Badle.

A 55-year-old man, whom police believe to be the gunman, was found dead in a car with a bullet wound to his head.

Police believe he killed himself and they found weapons at his home.

Though the attack in Wächtersbach was being seen as racist, German authorities have warned against links to the far right.

"We have no evidence in our current investigation that there were contacts with the right-wing or far-right scene," Mr Badle said.

Germans were shocked last month when a politician who had spoken out in favour of migrants was shot dead in an attack linked to the far right.

A far-right suspect, Stephan Ernst, confessed to murdering Walter Lübcke outside his home but has since retracted his confession. Both attacks took place in the central state of Hesse.

Germany's intelligence services have been criticised for their slow response to extreme right violence.

A report by the BfV domestic security agency last month estimated that the country's far-right scene had attracted as many as 24,000 people, of whom 12,700 were described as violence-orientated far-right extremists.

Officials said the victim of Monday's shooting, which took place in the north-east of Frankfurt, was in a stable condition on Tuesday. A vigil against racism was due to take place in the town on Tuesday evening.

At least three bullets were fired at the Eritrean man. The body of the suspected gunman was then found by police seven kilometres (four miles) away at Biebergemünd.

Two semi-automatic guns were found in the man's car and three other guns at his home. All of the man's guns were legally owned. A sixth gun had been sold shortly before the attack.

A letter was also found at the suspect's home but its contents were not made public. </s> Parts of Frankfurt main station where the incident occurred were closed off by police.

Parts of Frankfurt main station where the incident occurred were closed off by police.

AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD boy died when a man pushed him and his mother in front of a train in Germany’s Frankfurt railway station, police said.

The suspect, a 40-year-old man of African origin who was unrelated to the victims, ran off but was overpowered by passers-by and detained by police.

The woman, who is also 40, was being treated in hospital after narrowly escaping from the tracks as an arriving ICE highspeed train ran over the child.

Police said they had opened a murder inquiry and were questioning the suspect for a possible motive.

“The boy and his mother were pushed in front of an arriving train. The mother was able to save herself,” a police spokeswoman said.

Passers-by ran after the fleeing man who, reports said, had tried but failed to push a third person onto the tracks, and who was arrested near the station.

The suspect is believed to be Eritrean, said Hesse state interior minister Peter Beuth.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer broke off his summer holiday because of the killing, saying he planned to meet with the heads of major security authorities.

“The background to this heinous crime is still unclear,” he said.

“It is now the task of the investigating authorities to clear it up as quickly and comprehensively as possible. The perpetrator will be held responsible for the crime by all legal means.”

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party quickly linked the case to a mass influx of migrants and refugees in recent years.

“The hideousness of this act can hardly be surpassed,” wrote the party’s Alice Weidel on Twitter, demanding that the government “finally start to protect the citizens of this country”.

A similar attack took place 10 days earlier when a 34-year-old woman was killed after being pushed in front of a train by a man in Voerde, near Duisburg.
A shooting in the town of Wächtersbach, Hesse, Germany gravely injures an Eritrean man. The suspect commits suicide after fleeing the scene. Police treat the incident to be inspired by xenophobia.