German police launch manhunt after two officers killed

Frankfurt, Germany, Jan 31 (EFE).- German police have launched a manhunt after two officers were shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate in the early hours of Monday morning.

The search radius has been extended to neighboring Saarland, police said, but investigators do not yet have a description of the alleged assailants, their vehicle, or which direction they fled.

Investigators presume that at least one of the individuals is armed; they have urged the public not to pick up any hitchhikers and to report any potential clues linked to the crime.

The events occurred at around 4:20 am near the town of Kusel, when the two officers were conducting a routine traffic check.

“The colleagues announced over the radio that they were checking a vehicle. Shortly afterwards they informed us that they were being shot at,” Bernhard Christian Erfort, regional police spokesman, told “Bild” newspaper.

Erfort said that, before radioing for help, the officers had reported that they had found hunting equipment in the trunk and were about to examine the vehicle.

According to German media, the officers were 24 and 29 years old; the younger was still at the police academy undergoing training and had already died when reinforcements arrived, while the other officer was injured and died shortly afterwards. EFE

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