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Man kills wife then shoots neighbours

German police are picking through the remnants of a blood bath after a man shot dead his wife, and then roamed the neighbourhood ringing door bells and shooting people who answered. He then shot himself and is in a coma.

Published: 10 May 2013 12:03 CEST

Man kills wife then shoots neighbours

Photo: DPA

Aachen public prosecutor Robert Deller said on Thursday that the man turned his gun on himself before the police could arrest him.

The 63-year-old man from the town of Langerwehe in North Rhine-Westphalia shot dead his 64-year-old wife with a small-calibre rifle on Wednesday night, before turning on his neighbours.

Police said he then woke up his neighbours by ringing their doorbells and knocking on their doors every quarter of an hour – shooting those who answered.

A 52-year-old woman was caught by a bullet in the neck, while a 61-year-old man at another address was hit in the shoulder. Another man was shot through the neck and jaw.

Their lives are not thought to be in danger but the gunman is said to be in a critical condition after shooting himself.

“We have not been able to make any connection between the victims that would explain these acts,” said Deller. He said the neighbours were lucky to survive.

Police have launched a murder investigation.

The Local/DPA/kkf

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Aide to German far-right MEP arrested on suspicion of spying for China

The man, named only as Jian G., stands accused of sharing information about negotiations at European Parliament with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

On the website of the European Parliament, Jian Guo is listed as an accredited assistant to MEP Maximilian Krah, the far-right AfD party’s lead candidate in the forthcoming EU-wide elections.

He is a German national who has reportedly worked as an aide to Krah in Brussels since 2019.

The suspect “is an employee of a Chinese secret service”, prosecutors said.

“In January 2024, the accused repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his intelligence service client.

“He also spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany for the intelligence service.”

The suspect was arrested in the eastern German city of Dresden on Monday and his homes were searched, they added.

The accused lives in both Dresden and Brussels, according to broadcasters ARD, RBB and SWR, who broke the news about the arrest.

The AfD said the allegations were “very disturbing”.

“As we have no further information on the case, we must wait for further investigations by federal prosecutors,” party spokesman Michael Pfalzgraf said in a statement.

The case is likely to fuel concern in the West about aggressive Chinese espionage.

It comes after Germany on Monday arrested three German nationals suspected of spying for China by providing access to secret maritime technology.

READ ALSO: Germany arrests three suspected of spying for China

China’s embassy in Berlin “firmly” rejected the allegations, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

According to German media, the two cases are not connected.

In Britain on Monday, two men were charged with handing over “articles, notes, documents or information” to China between 2021 and last year.

Police named the men as Christopher Berry, 32, and Christoper Cash, 29, who previously worked at the UK parliament as a researcher.

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