The man, who is said to be a 38-year-old German national, stole the digger from a construction site before going on a 50-minute rampage to a nearby city where he crashed into a car dealership
This is the stomach-churning moment a man went on a rampage with a stolen digger before being shot dead by armed police.
The 38-year-old German man reportedly stole the vehicle before going on a 50-minute charge in which he ran over cars, caused injuries to police officers and destroyed a car dealership in the town of Grünsfeld, Baden-Württemberg.
The thief is said to have stolen the excavator from a construction site, before jumping in the driver’s seat and getting away without being seen. Within minutes he’d destroyed the company’s building materials, according to a spokeswoman for local police.
Next he turned on to a highway as cops caught up and drove on either side. At around 3.15pm, an hour after the rampage started, the driver came into Tauberbischofsheim, where he slammed into a car dealership. He completely destroyed the building after repeatedly driving into its walls.
As the rampage continued, members of the public gathered to watch him tearing through the town. In a desperate attempt to stop the carnage, cops tried to swarm the vehicle, but he continued, smashing into patrol cars and injured three police officers.
One of the victims, a female officer, was left with serious injuries and had to be rushed to hospital. At present, there are no further details on the condition of the other two cops. The incident was caught on camera and showed the moment bystanders sped away as cops attempted to box him in. After he rammed into the car dealership, several shots can be heard ringing out as the excavator comes to a sudden halt.
A spokeswoman for cops confirmed that one of the bullets had hit the suspect, who died instantly. A probe has been launched as to the motive behind the man’s behaviour, with a separate investigation underway about the cop’s use of a gun.
