Gunman who took hostages in German theatre had dummy guns, grenades: Prosecutors

German authorities say a masked man who was shot dead after taking hostages in movie theatre was armed only with a harmless replica rifle, a pistol and dummy grenades.

German authorities say a masked man who was shot dead after taking hostages in movie theatre was armed only with a harmless replica rifle, a pistol and dummy grenades.

German special police walks past a cinema complex after a masked man with a gun and ammunition belt opened fire in Viernheim near Frankfurt on Thursday. (Reuters)

Darmstadt prosecutors on Friday said it was still not clear what motives were behind the incident, but they had found no evidence the man had a political or terrorist background. They identified the suspect as a 19-year-old German born in Mannheim — about 10 km from the town where the incident occurred. They said the suspect lived in northern Germany but gave no other details.

An outside view of a cinema, where the armed man barricaded himself in Viernheim, southern Germany

He was killed by police after taking 18 people hostage in the theatre in Viernheim and firing blank rounds into the air.

None of the man’s captives were injured.