(Berlin) The German police announced on Friday that they had found a heavily armed suspect, accused of having seized police service weapons, after a manhunt in the Black Forest which mobilized for six days hundreds of members of the security forces supported by helicopters.
Posted on 17 July 2020 at 16 h 19
France Media Agency
Yves Rausch, 31 years old, nicknamed the “Rambo of the Black Forest” by the German press, was discovered sitting in the woods thanks to a report given by two witnesses. “With four weapons visible in front of him,” said Jürgen Rieger, who led the search operation.
The fugitive also held an ax on his lap and another weapon, and there was a letter in front of him, added Mr. Rieger.
He was slightly injured during his arrest, as was a member of the special forces who suffered a cut inflicted by the ax.
Rausch had fled into the forest on Sunday after having succeeded in disarming four, triggering in the southwest of Germany this vast operation of the police force equipped with thermal cameras and supported by helicopters and police dogs.
More than 2500 members of the security forces had searched the area.
“After several days of searching for Yves Rausch, who went underground in the woods around Oppenau, the police managed to arrest” the 30-year-old and to seize “four firearms,” said a police statement.
Police were informed on Sunday morning that a suspicious man was seen near a cabin in the forest near the village of Oppenau. The four police officers dispatched to the scene to conduct a check said he was initially cooperative when they approached.
But “suddenly and in a completely unexpected way”, he threatened the police with a weapon, forcing them to put down their service weapons before taking it and running away.
Police had previously warned that he might also be armed with a bow, arrows and knife.
The Oppenau prosecutor, Herwig Schaefer, had described Yves Rausch on Tuesday as a “fan of arms” with a “great affinity” with armaments.
The suspect has a long judicial record, accused of crimes such as the illegal carrying of weapons, theft or attacks causing injuries.
In 2010, he was sentenced to prison after seriously injuring a friend with a crossbow.
The police had discovered pedophile pornographic material on his cell phone during an investigation in 2019 for possession of explosives.
The investigators had initially declared that they did not suspect motivations of extreme right or political nature. But then they revealed that he had been given a modified sentence at the age of 07 for incitement to hatred. He had changed the letters on a inscription from a youth organization so that it reads “Juden weg”, which means “Jews outside”.
According to them, he had made a fake bomb and was known for his anti-Semitic statements and for the use of swastikas and other Nazi symbols.
Without a fixed address since the fall 2019, he had settled in the hut where he was spotted on Sunday.
During the hunt, the local kindergartens and outdoor swimming pool were closed as a precaution by the municipality of Oppenau, which cited a “dangerous situation”.
Walks in the forest and outdoor activities were prohibited and aerial overflights in the region suspended.
Rausch will be examined by a psychiatrist because of the “gravity of the offense” and his past, said Schaefer.