[url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/23/armed-man-opens-fire-at-german-cinema-kinopolis-viernheim]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/23/armed-man-opens-fire-at-german-cinema-kinopolis-viernheim[/url] Germany shooting: man 'killed after opening fire at cinema in Viernheim' Man shot dead after reportedly taking hostages at cinema in town near Frankfurt, with police saying nobody else was injured in the incident An armed and masked man has reportedly been shot dead by German special police after storming a cinema complex in Viernheim, in Germany’s Hesse region. The gunman was said to have taken hostages, all of whom have escaped uninjured. According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, the man entered the Kinopolis complex shortly after the start of the first screenings of the day at about 3pm, wearing a mask and carrying a gun and a munition belt. The man is reported to have fired into the air as he entered the cinema. German police’s special response unit had closed off an area around the cinema complex shortly after the start of the incident. Police spokesperson Bernd Hochstaedter said that the police deployment lasted around three hours. “We believe that there were no injured people, and that the people who were in the cinema with the perpetrator could be freed uninjured”, Hochstaedter said. Various local media had reported that up to 50 people had been injured due to the use of CS gas. According to German press agency dpa, German security services currently believe the gunman to be a “confused individual” rather than a terrorist.