An unidentified assailant armed with an axe and accompanied by a dog entered a slot machine hall in the German city of Buchholz in Lower Saxony and started threatening the three visitors and an employee at around 11.00 pm local time on 30 November, local police reported. Two of the visitors and the employee managed to flee the scene, while the remaining guest barricaded himself in the hall's restroom.
An hour later, a responding German special forces unit commenced an operation to free the remaining visitor, who had essentially become a "hostage" of the assailant. The attacker was overpowered and arrested, while his dog was shot dead by law enforcement in the process.
Bitte meidet den Bereich des Gewerbegebietes. Wir sagen euch, wenn sich die Lage entspannt hat. /or #Polizei #Heidekreis #Buchholz
— Polizei Heidekreis (@Polizei_HK) November 30, 2019
Police reported finding a "device" consisting of containers connected by wires on the perpetrator's body, but a bomb squad determined that it was a hoax explosive. The man was sent to a local psychiatric ward for evaluation
The gaming hall employee and two visitors who managed to escape from the building were attended to by medics in an ambulance that arrived at the scene along with the police. Law enforcement says no-one was injured in the incident.
