Five killed including gunman in German hostage taking

A gunman killed four hostages in the southwestern German city of Karlsruhe on Wednesday before presumably shooting himself, having barricaded them into his flat.
The man is thought to have been resisting eviction from his attic flat when he carried out the “executions”.
Police said the victims included a court bailiff, a locksmith and a prospective tenant. The alleged gunman, a 53-year-old unemployed man who has not been named, and his girlfriend are believed to be among the dead.

“They all died of gunshot wounds,” said the police spokesman.
At a press conference, police said two of the victims were found on a sofa with their hands tied behind their backs. Both had died from a single shot to the head.
A woman, believed to be the man’s partner, was found dead in the bedroom with a gunshot wound to her chest. The man had also set the flat’s carpet alight.
Germany: 'four dead' in hostage taking 04 Jul 2012

Police found a shotgun, a rifle, two pistols and a dummy hand grenade at the crime scene.
A social worker who had gone to the flat with the victims managed to escape and alert the police after the man had opened fire. She said the gunman had first shot the bailiff in the leg and then wounded the locksmith who had tried to disarm him.
Police came under fire from the heavily barricaded flat. Authorities then sealed off an area around the building, and evacuated a school and a kindergarten.
Negotiators attempted to establish contact with the hostage taker, but it remains unclear what, if any, were his demands.
It also remains to be established the reasons behind what appeared to be a planned attack, although authorities said that the man’s partner was well behind on her rent and was due be evicted that day.
No police were wounded in the incident but a police spokesman said a number of officers had suffered from smoke inhalation, adding that when they burst into the flat the smoke was so thick that they “could not see their hands in front of their eyes”.
Rainer Stickelberger, justice minister for the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, described the attack as an “incomprehensible act” and that he was “deeply shocked by the deaths of five people”.