74-year-old gunman shoots county mayor, himself in NW Germany

The shooting took place around 10 a.m. local time in Hamelin-Pyrmont county of the German State of Lower Saxony. Local police confirmed that the county mayor Ruediger Butte was shot dead by the gunman who then turned the firearm on himself.

There was no direct witness.

According to local media, county spokeswoman Sandra Lummitsch heard the shots in a neighboring office. She alerted the police, then locked herself in the office with her colleagues.

In a press conference held on Friday afternoon, police said the shooting was pre-planned, as the offender had attempted for days to have an appointment with the mayor. Police said there had been a physical confrontation between the gunman and the mayor before the shooting.

The revolver that the gunman used was illegally possessed, according to the police

Ruediger Butte, 63, directed State Criminal Investigation Office of Lower Saxony from 2001 to 2005, and became the mayor of the Hamelin-Pyrmont county in 2005.

"This terrible act shocked us all. The sympathy of the entire state government are with his wife and family," said Stephen Weil, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony State.

"I am deeply saddened by the death of Ruediger Butte. He was a wonderful person... (and) had made great contributions to the internal security and local self-government in Lower Saxony," Weil said.

Source: XINHUA