A disagreement in a German discotheque turned deadly Sunday after the disco operator’s son-in-law left the club, returned with an assault rifle and started shooting, law enforcement officials said.
A security guard was killed and four other people were wounded, three of them seriously, during the rampage in the southwestern town of Konstanz. The suspect was fatally shot by a police officer.
Officials investigating the shooting identified the suspect as a 34-year-old who came to Germany from Iraq in 1991 as a child. They said they had no details of the dispute, but ruled out a terrorist motive.
Police said the man was the son-in-law of the club’s operator and had a criminal record that included assault and drug-related convictions. The suspect was not named in keeping with German privacy laws.
The dpa news agency cited police weapons expert Andreas Stenger as saying the weapon used was an M16 assault rifle of the kind used by U.S. armed forces. Other law enforcement officials said the gunman opened fire just inside the club’s entrance, killing a security employee.
A policeman subsequent exchanged gunfire with the suspect outside. The officer received non-life-threatening wounds and the gunman died later in a hospital.
