Several people have been injured in a shooting outside a court in the German city of Bielefeld.
The shocking incident took place outside the trial of Huseyin Akkurt, who was charged in connection with the 2024 murder of professional boxer Besar Nimani.
At around 1:30pm local time, shortly after the end of today’s hearing, three shots were fired around 150m (490ft) from the courthouse.
Eyewitnesses told Bild that police officers outside the courtroom shouted: ‘Someone is shooting outside!’
The news outlet also reported that at least two of the defendant’s family members were shot. While one suffered a wound to the leg, the other is said to have been critically wounded in their chest.
So far, one suspected perpetrator has been arrested, while another has barricaded himself in a nearby building. A police helicopter is currently circling the area.
A nearby school has triggered an emergency alarm, forcing teachers and students to barricade themselves in their classrooms.
Akkurt’s trial began at the end of January, and strict security measures were put in place to ensure the safety of all involved. Riot squad cops reportedly had to secure the building and courtroom, and everyone who entered the courtroom had to be thoroughly searched
At around 1:30pm local time three shots were fired around 150m (490ft) from the courthouse
Police officers lead a man away from a crime scene in handcuffs. Shots were fired near the Bielefeld district court
Several people have been injured in a shooting outside a court in the German city of Bielefeld
According to the indictment filed by the Bielefeld public prosecutor’s office, two men ambushed Besar Nimani on March 9 2024 and fired 16 shots in front of a shop in the city’s pedestrian zone.
Nimani, who died at the age of 38, had parked his car nearby earlier on the day of his death.
He bled to death at the scene of the killing. The motive for the killing is still unknown, though many suspect it was to settle a score in the criminal world.
Akkurt, now 34, was arrested in Brussels, Belgium, in July, has not yet commented on his charge.
Another suspect in the case, Ayman Dawoud Kirit, is said to still be on the run.
Germany has been plagued with a spate of attacks in recent months.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that the driver who injured at least 36 people by ‘deliberately’ ramming a car into a demonstration in Munich was an Islamist and yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ after the horrifying attack.
Farhad N., a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, drove a Mini Cooper into a crowd of around 1,000 striking unionists.
Gabriele Tilmann, the senior public prosecutor, said that Farhad N. had confessed during an interrogation to deliberately driving into the demonstration. Police said that Farhad had an ‘Islamist orientation’ but was not affiliated with any Islamist groups.
Professional boxer Besar Nimani (pictured) was shot and killed in 2024
Police are still trying to determine the motive for the boxer’s murder
The prosecutor said that he had prayed after driving his car into the crowd. A two-year-old child was left fighting for their life when the car hit a mother pushing a pram, local media reports.
‘The suspect came to Germany in 2016 as an unaccompanied minor and was here legally,’ Tilmann said.
He was said to have lived in a rented apartment in Munich while working as a store detective. Farhad was born in Kabul in 2001, Bild reports.
A month before this, a 28-year-old Afghan man was arrested after a knife attack in a park in the German city of Aschaffenburg that killed two people, including a toddler.
Olaf Scholz, the outgoing Chancellor, said at the time that the sick attack was an ‘act of terror.’
