A US soldier and a military bus driver were killed and two further soldiers injured after a shooting yesterday in Frankfurt airport.
German police said the alleged perpetrator, a 21-year-old man identified only as Arif U and believed to be from Kosovo, opened fire on a shuttle bus carrying the soldiers at Terminal 2 of Europe’s second-busiest air traffic hub.
According to eyewitness reports, the man began shooting at the blue military bus at 3.15pm local time while it waited in a bus lane in the public area of the airport.
The gunman reportedly hit a soldier waiting in front of the vehicle before shooting the bus driver as he sat in his seat.
Two US soldiers further inside the bus were injured by the gunman. One sustained only superficial injuries while the other was in a critical condition in the evening.
The alleged perpetrator then reportedly fled into the terminal building where he was restrained by airport police.
According to unconfirmed reports, the man is from the Kosovan town of Mitrovica and was carrying a knife at the time of the incident.
A police spokesman said the man was still being questioned yesterday evening. Investigators gave no information about a possible motive.
Local media quoted witnesses who said the incident followed a disagreement on the bus.
“We have two dead in this terrible incident including one GI. The perpetrator is a man apparently from Kosovo,” said Boris Rhein, interior minister in the state of Hesse, where Frankfurt airport is located.
“Whether this has any terrorist background or Islamist background, it’s too early to say.”
Some 120,000 US soldiers are stationed in military facilities on German soil with several based in the state of Hesse, including an army garrison near the state capital, Wiesbaden.
The shooting triggered a massive security operation at the airport.
Investigators used screens to seal off the area around the bus lane in section E of Terminal 2 and used plastic sheeting to cover the shattered right windscreen panel. of the bus.
German chancellor Angela Merkel said she was shocked and saddened by the attack.
Kosovan interior minister Bajram Rexhepi described the shooting as a “shattering and tragic incident”.
Despite the security alert, air traffic was not disrupted, an airport spokesman said.