Two hostages were freed at the Ingolstadt City Hall building Monday in Bavaria and their captor was arrested by German police.
The 24-year-old man accused in the hostage-taking had been banned from entering City Hall because he allegedly
stalked a woman working there, The Associated Press reported. The 25-year-old woman was among those taken hostage, officials said.
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The crisis ended when the unidentified man was shot in his shoulder and legs, police spokesman Guenther Beck told the AP. He was taken to a hospital, but a report on his condition was not immediately available.
In all, the man is accused of taking four people hostage. One man was freed earlier in the day, and another hostage escaped, police said.
The man entered the building “carrying a plastic gun, which looked like a real weapon, and a big knife,” according to a police statement, said the AP.
The incident forced German Chancellor Angela Merkel to cancel an election rally in a square in front of the building. German national elections are scheduled for Sept. 22, and Bavarian state elections are being held a week earlier.
Police say the kidnapper was a homeless man who had been in psychiatric treatment. More than 200 police officers were dispatched to City Hall, surrounding the building for some nine hours before a special unit stormed the building.
CNN reported that the man did not make any demands while he was in the building. German media said the man was in touch with police by phone after taking the hostages about 9 a.m. local time.
Ingolstadt has a population of about 126,000 and sits some 45 miles north of Munich.
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