Major law enforcement operation underway in German city of Mannheim as public told to stay inside
MANNHEIM, Germany (AP) — Police in the western German city of Mannheim have asked the public to stay away from the downtown area and keep inside their homes. Mannheim is a city of about 300,000 people located south of Frankfurt.
Police would not disclose what prompted the large law enforcement presence in the city center.
A spokesperson for police, Stefan Wilhelm, told n-tv television that an “incident” occurred at around 12.15 in the Paradeplatz area of downtown Mannheim that triggered a large police deployment. He said he couldn’t give details. Authorities pushed an alert on the Katwarn app telling people in Mannheim to avoid the city’s downtown area due to a big police deployment. Katwarn is used by officials to communicate information about major emergencies such as thunderstorms, militant attacks or fires.