Cloaked ‘assassin’ spooks German town

An unknown individual is said to be stalking the southern German town of Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg, dressed as an 'assassin.' 

Dressed in the monk-like garb of the blood-letting warriors of the 'Assassin's Creed' video game, the shrouded figure is causing alarm among younger residents.

Reported repeated sightings over the past ten days, including in the vicinity of a school, have earned the prowler the nickname "Kampfmönch" (warrior monk) after the hit game series' sword- and knife-wielding protagonist.

Parents in Rottweil have taken a dim view of the presumed prankster after their children began complaining of nightmares.

"You are spreading fear about going to school among primary school and older pupils," the publisher of the Neue Rottweiler Zeitung wrote in an open letter to the 'assassin,' urging the person to turn themselves in to the police.

"You have also alarmed a small town. You are all people talk about all day and many parents are busy at night too because their children cannot sleep."

But police in the normally sleepy town of 25,000 residents were quick to dispel as fantasy claims that he or she was also carrying a blood-stained knife.

"There is no indication that this unidentified person presents any danger," stressed police chief Michael Schlüssler, adding that the fighting monk's costume was readily available on the Internet.   

While he urged the mystery walker to desist, he said authorities could not take action against someone for simply wandering around in public in a costume.