The perpetrator of the shooting in the German city of Halle on Wednesday afternoon placed handmade explosives in front of the synagogue he tried to enter, report German media.
The man placed the explosives in front of the synagogue, then tried but failed to enter the building, and fired several shots, security sources told the German news agency DPA.
According to German media, the arrested suspect is a German man unknown to the police. He reportedly acted alone.
Firearms and several explosive devices were used during the attack, leaving at least two dead and two wounded, according to the German authorities.
A woman was fatally shot in front of the synagogue, and a few blocks away, another person was shot while hiding in a pita restaurant. The exact course of the events is not yet clear, reports DPA.
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The 70 people who were present in the synagogue at the time of the events were evacuated at the end of the afternoon.
According to Max Privorozki, the president of the Jewish community in Halle, this was a targeted attack, especially taking into account that it was Yom Kippur, a Jewish religious celebration. He points out that the attacker attempted to enter the synagogue with grenades, weapons and homemade bombs.
The anti-terrorist prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe, Germany, has been brought into the investigation. Various elements indicate an attack in connection with the extreme right, according to a spokesperson.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
