Police arrest Algerian suspect who yelled 'I'll blow you up'

dimeji akinloye

July 28, 2016 1:42 AM

German federal police arrested the asylum-seeker at the Bremen main train station after an hours-long manhunt that prompted the evacuation of a Bremen shopping centre.

A French soldier patrols in the train station in Nantes, France, November 16, 2015 as security increases after last Friday's series of deadly attacks in Paris. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

German federal police arrested the asylum-seeker at the Bremen main train station after an hours-long manhunt that prompted the evacuation of a Bremen shopping centre, according to police in the neighbouring state of Lower Saxony.

They said an investigation was continuing.

Police said that when the man was in custody this past weekend for several thefts, he had sympathised with Islamic State and a gunman who killed nine people at a shopping centre in Munich last Friday. But they said there was no further evidence of any ties.

Germany remains on edge after a spate of attacks that have claimed 15 lives since July 18, including those of four attackers. German officials have linked two of the incidents to Islamic State.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday to offer his condolences over the recent attacks in southern Germany, according to U.S. and German officials.

Obama offered Germany the U.S. government's full support as investigations into the attacks proceed, the White House said in a statement.

Authorities had evacuated a shopping centre in Bremen, about 40 km (25 miles) from the medical facility, after people identified a man who had been acting suspiciously as the missing patient.

A spokesman in Diepholz, where the man had been held by police over the weekend, said authorities took the incident seriously given the current situation in Germany, but emphasised that there was no evidence of an imminent attack.

"We only have these statements. We have no evidence of any concrete plans or even any ties to Islamic State," he said.

The man was moved into psychiatric care after he tried to hurt himself multiple times and authorities determined he had consumed drugs and posed a possible danger to himself and others. He escaped from the facility early on Wednesday.

Police in Bremen said they were continuing to scour the shopping centre for the man, who may have been carrying a backpack, and any objects he might have left behind.

There were no reports that he was carrying a weapon, they said.

ALSO READ: Germany Axe Attack - Islamic State flag found in room of attacker

Earlier, a suitcase exploded near a reception centre for migrants in southern Germany, but authorities said the blast may have been caused by an aerosol can, and there was no sign of any explosives involved.

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