Heavily armed officers of a special task force (SEK) wearing bullet-proof waistcoats stand in front of the entrance of the hotel “the niu Tab” in Düsseldorf (Oberbilk district), holding their machine pistols at the ready. The patrol officers who have cordoned off the streets in front of the building are also wearing protective waistcoats.
The police are still keeping quiet about the background of the large-scale operation on Friday. But as the tabloid BILD has now learned, the more than 100 heavily armed men of the special task force were looking for a total of four Arab-looking men.
The evacuated hotel guests were shown four photos of Mediterranean-looking men. They were asked if they had seen these men. A concrete threat situation was suspected, so the special units even blew open room doors in the hotel!
Investigators assumed that the suspect (40) arrested in the hotel could be part of an armed group from abroad, but not with a terrorist background. The investigators have not yet said whether they wanted to attack someone.
The police then searched a room and also seized a weapon. A man (40) was arrested. “However, this person has not yet been known to the police,” said police spokesman Raimund Dockter (52).
It was also feared that the men might have explosives in addition to weapons. However, this has not been confirmed so far, and the police assume that there is no longer a threat. A special commission of the Düsseldorf police is now to clarify the exact background.A discovery of a weapon in one of the hotel rooms caused a major police operation on Friday. Around 1.30 p.m., a witness reported to the police that he had spotted a weapon.
The suspect was remanded in custody. Among other things, the man is accused of a violation of the Weapons Act, a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office said on Sunday. Investigators did not give further details about the suspect and the weapon.
The police were initially reluctant to provide further information. No information was given on whether the witness who reported the weapon sighting was an employee of the hotel or a guest. Nor was anything disclosed about the weapon seized, whether a live or PCB weapon. Explosives experts examined a suspicious suitcase in one of the hotel rooms. Later, the all-clear was given.
However, the spokesman confirmed to BILD information that the special forces from Essen were ordered to the property with the support of a tank. “We want to determine if there are any other potential suspects on site,” Dockter said.
The special forces took all the hotel guests out of the building. The officers began searching the rooms in the evening. Explosives experts were also on the scene.
Five ambulances and one emergency ambulance were on standby near the scene.
Hotel guest Wolfgang Box (67) from Bielefeld checked in at 1 pm on Friday. At around 4 p.m. he left his hotel room to visit Düsseldorf’s old town and took the lift down to the lobby, and he was in the field: “There were heavily armed police everywhere. No one was allowed to leave the hotel. First we had to wait in the lobby for a few more hours, then we were taken to another building.”
Late on Friday evening, Box was told that he would have to spend the night in another hotel. He was only allowed back to his room on Saturday afternoon to pick up his luggage. According to the police, business could be resumed. But the hotel will remain closed for the time being.
A hotel spokesperson told BILD: “The hotel will remain closed for the next two days because the clean-up work is continuing.”