At least 11 people have been killed – including the suspect – and others seriously injured after two shootings at shisha bars in the German town of Hanau, according to local police.
Nine people died in the attacks on the two bars at around 10pm on Wednesday night, police said.
A huge hunt was launched for the perpetrator involving dozens of armed police and a helicopter hovering above the commuter town 25km east of Frankfurt.
Police then tweeted at around 5am local time that special police force officers had stormed the home of the alleged suspect and found him dead along with another body.
“One of the dead people is most likely the culprit,” police said in a statement. “There are currently no indications of other perpetrators. Investigations into the identity of the victims and the suspected perpetrator are ongoing.”
Officers sealed off and searched the apartment in Hanau’s Kesselstadt district, near the scene of one of the shootings, after following up witness statements on a getaway car.
Local police initially said that five people had been seriously injured, but later confirmed that eight people were “fatally wounded” in shootings at around 10pm local time and a major operation had been launched.
According to local media, eight or nine shots were fired at the Midnight shisha bar on Heumarkt in the centre of the town.
A dark vehicle was seen leaving the scene. Soon afterwards, shots were fired at a second shisha bar – the Arena Bar & Café in Kurt-Schumacher-Platzin the western Kesselstadt district.
Police initially said eight people had died but later updated the figure to say that nine had been killed in the two attacks.
At least five people were believed very seriously injured in the attacks. It was not clear whether the ninth fatality was one of those injured earlier.
Initial reports of a third incident in the district of Lamboy were denied by police.
Police said on Wednesday night they had no confirmed information on the background of the two attacks and appealed for witnesses to come forward.
Federal prosecutors said Thursday they were taking charge of the investigating the shooting amid reports that the suspect may have had a far-right motive. Newspaper Bild said he had expressed extreme rightwing views in a letter of confession he left behind. The Guardian could not confirm this.
The Federal Prosecutors Office in Karlsruhe, which handles serious crimes, said it planned to hold a news conference later Thursday.
“Thoughts this morning are with the people of Hanau, in whose midst this terrible crime was committed,” German chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said on Twitter.
“Deep sympathy for the affected families, who are grieving for their dead,” the spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said. “We hope with those wounded that they will soon recover.”
Hanau’s federal MP, Katja Leikert, called the attack a “horrific scenario” in a tweet in which she offered her “heartfelt condolences” to the victims.
The mayor of the town, Claus Kaminsky, said it was the “worst evening imaginable”.
Hanau, which is in southwestern Germany, about 20 km (12 miles) east of Frankfurt, has a population of about 100,000.
Reports of the shooting come just days after one person was shot dead and four more were injured outside a Berlin music venue. The shooting in the German capital occurred last Friday near the Tempodrome, which was hosting a Turkish comedy show on the night. The motives behind the Berlin attack have remained unclear.