At approximately 2200 local time (2100 UTC) on 19 February 2020, a gunman opened fire inside a hookah bar on Heumarkt street in downtown Hanau, located approximately 25 km (15 mi) east of Frankfurt. The assailant then drove to the Kesselstadt district — located nearly 3 km (2 mi) away — and fired on a second bar before he returned to his residence and committed suicide. A total of 11 people — including the gunman and his mother — were killed and four others were injured during the episode. At the gunman’s residence, police officials discovered materials related to far-right extremism, including a letter and video expressing his motives for attacking ethnic minorities. The attacker is not believed to have been a part of an organized far-right terrorist network.
