German Movie Theater Shooting Suspect Dead, Police Say

BERLIN (CBSNewYork/AP) — Police say a man has been shot dead after entering a movie theater in southwestern Germany, apparently with a weapon. They say they believe that no one else was injured in the incident.

Local German media has reported that a masked gunman entered the Kinopolis movie theater in Vierheim at around 3 p.m. and began shooting, CBS News reported..

Police spokesman Bernd Hochstaedter said authorities were told early Thursday afternoon that an armed man had entered the Kinopolis movie theater in the town of Viernheim and that shots apparently had been fired.

Hesse's interior minister, Peter Beuth, said it wasn't clear whether the weapon was real.

Hochstaedter said that the police deployment lasted around three hours.

He said: "We believe that there were no injured people, and that the people who were in the cinema with the perpetrator could be freed uninjured.''

Local German media is reporting that dozens may have been injured by CS gas that was reportedly used during the incident, but the extent of those injuries are unclear, according to the Guardian.

The motive of the shooting was not immediately known.

Norbert Schaetzle, a spokesman for police in the nearby city of Mannheim, said the police force there was not directly involved in the incident, but had sent officers to support their colleagues in the town.

The NYPD said on their Twitter account that there was "no known threat" to New York City at this time.

Stay with CBS New York as this story develops.

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