Police in central Germany hunt for a suspect on the run after 2 people were shot dead

Police officers investigate the scene of a shooting in Bad Nauheim, Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Helmut Fricke/dpa via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — German police in a spa town north of Frankfurt on Sunday were expanding a manhunt for a suspect still on the loose after two people were fatally shot a day earlier.

Police in the Hesse region said the two victims were gunned down in a residential area of Bad Nauheim, about 35 kilometres (about 22 miles) north of Frankfurt, and a motive was not immediately known. Authorities did not immediately identify the victims.

German news agency dpa reported that a police spokesperson had cited evidence pointing to a single perpetrator but that authorities could not rule out the possibility that others might have been involved.

According to Hessenschau, a regional publication linked to a public broadcaster, a large police contingent was deployed after the shootings on Saturday, and local residents indicated that special forces had been sent to the site, along with emergency vehicles and a police helicopter.

The Associated Press