Merkel slams ‘poison’ of racism after Germany shootings

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the “poison” of racism Thursday after a shooter with suspected far-right beliefs killed nine people at a shisha bar and a cafe in the German city of Hanau.

All nine dead, aged between 21 and 44, had a “migrant background,” although some were German citizens, chief federal prosecutor Peter Frank said.

Six others were injured, including one critically.

The suspect, identified as 43-year-old German Tobias R., was found dead at his home following an hours-long manhunt.

The body of his 72-year-old mother was also found at the flat in what appeared to be a murder-suicide.

Prosecutor Frank said evidence, including video and a 24-page “manifesto” found on the suspect’s website, “shows a very deeply racist attitude”.

“Racism is a poison, hatred is a poison and this poison exists in our society and it is already to blame for far too many crimes,” Merkel said in Berlin.

Among the dead were “several victims of Kurdish origin”, the Kon-Med association of Kurds in Germany said in a statement, adding that it was “furious” that authorities were not doing more to combat rising extremism.

 Tears and anger

The rampage started at around 10:00 pm (2100 GMT) Wednesday at the Midnight shisha bar in central Hanau, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Frankfurt.

The gunman reportedly rang the doorbell and then shot at people in the smoking section, mass-market daily Bild said.

He fled the scene by car before opening fire at the Arena Bar & Cafe, with witnesses reporting hearing a dozen shots.

Relatives and friends of the victims gathered at the Arena bar around midday Thursday, an AFP reporter said, tearfully embracing one another.

Police hurried to cover up the address of the perpetrator’s website with a blue plastic sheet after it was spray-painted on a nearby wall.

“I couldn’t be any more upset,” said Inge Bank, 82, who lives near the bar.

“We have to nip it in the bud if the Nazi party is coming back,” Bank said, adding that she had lived through World War II.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer also visited the scene, laying flowers outside the Midnight bar.

He said interior ministers from Germany’s 16 states would discuss later Thursday ways to improve security in light of the “very concerning” development in the extreme right scene.