German police believe Tuesday's deadly shooting in the western town of Rüsselsheim in which three people died resulted from a feud between Turkish men. Two men were arrested on Wednesday. One of the dead was an innocent bystander -- a 55-year-old Greek mother of two.Tuesday's deadly shooting in the western German town of Rüsselsheim may have resulted from an altercation between two Turkish men in the nearby city of Mainz a few days earlier, police said on Wednesday. The shooting happened in an Italian ice cream cafe in a pedestrian zone in central Rüsselsheim near Frankfurt. Four men walked into the cafe and confronted a group of men who were sitting there. A scuffle ensued and shots were fired. Two men and an innocent bystander, a 55-year-old Greek woman, were killed.A total of eight or nine men were involved. Two of the assailants were brothers, and one of them was among the dead. Police said they arrested two Turkish men on Wednesday, aged 49 and 28. "Two men had a row in Mainz at the weekend and we believe the shooting may have been linked to that," a police spokesman told a news conference. "It may have something to do with wounded honor."More than one gun was fired and knives were also used, police said.
The woman, a mother of two, died in her husband's arms after being hit in the stomach by a stray bullet. "My wife died here," her husband Kostadinos K., 54, told SPIEGEL ONLINE, pointing at the area around the cafe now cordoned off with police tape.Anna K. had been drinking a cappuccino with the mother-in-law of one of her two sons in the the Italian cafe, said Kostadinos. Her husband said he had been sitting next door in the Greek restaurant that belongs to his brother. "Suddenly I heard four or five shots. I ran out and saw my wife lying on the ground," said Kostadinos.She was bleeding heavily from a stomach wound and Kostadinos and several relatives dragged her into the restaurant. "Please help me Kosta!", she whispered into her husband's ear. Those were her last words, said Kostadinos. "I can't think any more," he said, fighting back the tears behind sunglasses. His sons aged 27 and 28 are on vacation in Greece. "I rang them up, told them their mother is dead. They asked, 'Why?' I couldn't answer the question." Eyewitnesses said Anna and her companion had left the cafe when they saw the men arguing. The women were hurrying over to the Greek restaurant when the shooting started. One of the men being fired at ran from the café and ran into her, dragging her to the ground. One of the attackers following him opened fire on the two of them as they lay there, eyewitnesses said. "We think the attackers didn't intend to shoot the woman," a police spokesman said. Few people got a good look at the attackers even though they escaped on foot. "It all happened so fast. People thought maybe one of them would start shooting again," said one eyewitness. "Anna was a good woman, such a good mother, she was hard-working and had a big heart," said Kostadinos. "Why did my wife have to die? Why?" Anna had just retired from a job at carmaker Opel, which has its main factory in Rüsselsheim. Members of Rüsselsheim's Greek community gathered at the scene on Wednesday to stage an impromptu vigil. Forensic investigators in white overalls examined the blood-stained area around the ice cream café on Tuesday night as the victims lay under blue plastic sheets. Police were quick to stress that the attack was unlikely to be Mafia related.
The shooting revived memories of a Mafia hit in August 2007 when six men were killed outside a pizza restaurant in the city of Duisburg in a blood feud traced back to the Calabria region of Italy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
NO ADVERTISING ACCEPTED ON COMMENTS