A migrant threw a Molotov cocktail into a crowded McDonald’s cafe before taking a woman hostage in the station in what police believe may have been a failed terror attack. He held the hostage in a pharmacy inside the station . Witnesses described him as shouting that he was acting for ISIS.
“The investigation is considering all possibilities and we are not ruling out terrorism,” Cologne deputy police chief Miriam Brauns was quoted by Reuters.
The suspect had first set a 14-year-old girl’s shoes and legs on fire with an incendiary device at the McDonald’s and later threatened to set a kidnapped woman on fire in a pharmacy close by. The sprinkler system in the McDonald’s was activated and large amounts of water could be seen coming out of the McDonald’s.
Police special forces stormed the station and freed the hostage, according to emergency services, after onlookers had fled the scene from the where suspect, claiming to be a member of Islamic State, was holed in.
Police made the decision to storm the premises when the suspect threatened to set light to his female hostage. He had taped gas cartridges to her body and poured fuel over her.
The victim of the bombing at the fast-food outlet meanwhile – a 14-year-old girl – suffered burns to her legs. The girl was rushed to hospital and was said to be in stable condition last night.
The suspect was shot in the stomach by police snipers and is said to be in critical condition after being badly wounded by multiple shots. The police commando also used stun grenades to free the hostage. Two other people were injured during the stand-off.
The attack began at around 11.45pm on Monday. “It was indescribable, terrible to look at,” a witness told the local Express newspaper.
According to police, the perpetrator shouted out his allegiance to the terrorist ISIS to passers-by.
An ID document was found at the scene issued to a 55-year-old Syrian, but police have not confirmed whether it belonged to the hostage-taker. He had been issued a residency permit in Germany valid until 2021.
Some sources claim that the suspect is a 55-year-old asylum seeker from Syria and was demanding the release of a Tunisian woman who is in custody.
Heavily armed police could be seen massing around Breslauer Square in the city during a two-hour standoff.