Gunman Dead, Several Injured after Shooting in German University

A gunman died after opening fire in a lecture hall in the university town of Heidelberg, German police announced on Monday.

In a brief statement, the police revealed that several people were injured, adding that the perpetrator was dead without giving details of how that happened. They also did not specify how many people were wounded, or how seriously.

Bild newspaper reported that the shooter had turned his weapon on himself.

The gunman was a student and was carrying several firearms at the time of the attack, DPA News Agency reported on Monday afternoon.

Media outlets reported that investigators do not assume the attack to have had a religious or political dimension.

At around 1:30 pm on Monday, police had called on people via social media to avoid the Neuenheimer Feld area of Heidelberg, where the science faculties of the city’s university, the university clinic and the botanical gardens are located.

Heidelberg's university is the oldest and one of the best known in Germany.