Police in southern Germany shot and killed an armed US soldier late Thursday after he had allegedly tied up and threatened his girlfriend.

After a brief but intense manhunt Thursday night involving a helicopter and thermal camera, German police shot and killed a US soldier in Germany. Police had begun searching for the man after his ex-girlfriend told police she had been tied up in his apartment and escaped.

Police finally found and confronted the 30-year-old soldier, who has yet to be identified, in the town of Königsberg. When he threatened police with his M4 rifle, he was shot and died soon thereafter in a hospital in Schweinfurt, the southern German city in which he was stationed.

The man's ex-girlfriend had informed police that she had been tied up and threatened with violence by the man before she escaped, according to police spokesman Karl-Heinz Schmitt.

German and US military officials are currently investigating the incident.


http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/14/germany.gi/index.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1444699520080314?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/europe/14cnd-germany.html