- Police in Germany have captured a heavily armed suspect accused of stealing officers’ weapons
- He was captured after a a six-day manhunt for the “Black Forest Rambo”
- Yves Rausch, 31, had fled into the forest on Sunday after he managed to disarm four police officers
German police on Friday captured a heavily armed suspect accused of stealing officers’ weapons, after a six-day manhunt for the “Black Forest Rambo”.
Yves Rausch, 31, had fled into the forest on Sunday after he managed to disarm four police officers, sparking a huge search operation.
Several hundred officers combed the area with the help of special forces, helicopters, sniffer dogs and thermal imaging cameras for the fugitive, nicknamed “Black Forest Rambo” by the German press after pictures emerged of him dressed in combat gear.
“After several days of searching for Yves Rausch, who had gone underground in the woods around Oppenau, the police succeeded in making a provisional arrest of the 31-year-old,” said police in a statement on Friday.
“In connection with this, four firearms were seized,” they added.
The drama began on Sunday morning when police were informed that a suspicious man was hanging around a hut in the forest near the village of Oppenau.
Four officers sent to the scene said he cooperated at first when approached.
But then he “suddenly and completely unexpectedly” threatened them with a gun and made them put down their own weapons before running away with the officers’ firearms.
He was also believed to be carrying a bow and arrow and a knife.
Oppenau prosecutor Herwig Schaefer described Rausch on Tuesday as a “weapons freak” with a “great affinity for arms”.
He has a long criminal record, including charges related to the possession of illegal weapons, theft and bodily injury.
He received a juvenile sentence of 3.5 years in 2010 after he shot a female friend with a crossbow, seriously injuring her.
Police found child pornography on his mobile phone while investigating him for the possession of explosives in 2019.
Schools, kindergartens and the local swimming pool were closed on Monday as a precaution.
Rausch has been homeless since autumn last year and had been squatting in the hut where he was spotted on Sunday.
-AFP