According to officials, on 20 February 2020, a 43-year-old German man, who was reportedly motivated by extreme right and racist belief, shot and killed nine people at several locations in a Frankfurt suburb overnight. A Turkish media reported that five of the victims were Turkish citizens. An association of Kurds in Germany said in a statement that several victims are of Kurdish origin. As reported by some western media, the two venues targeted were mostly frequented by Kurds. There was a xenophobic motive behind the shootings, said Federal counter-terror prosecutors.
The interior minister for the state of Hesse, Peter Beuth said that witnesses and surveillance videos of the suspect’s car led authorities quickly to his home, near the scene of the second attack, where he was found dead near his 72-year-old mother, leaving a death toll to 11.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Racism is a poison, hatred is a poison and this poison exists in our society and it is already to blame for far too many crimes.”