Shots fired at U.S. military personnel in Germany; two killed

Frankfurt, Germany — The U.S. Air Force says two of its airmen have been killed and two wounded in a shooting outside Frankfurt airport.

Spokeswoman Maj. Beverly Mock said German police have the suspect in Wednesday afternoon’s shooting in custody and that she could not release any further details on the victims until their next of kin have been notified.

The gunman opened fire on a bus carrying the airmen as it sat outside Terminal 2 at the airport, Frankfurt police spokesman Manfred Fuellhardt said.

Taxi cab driver Salimi Seraidon said he was sitting at a stand about 200 yards away when the attack took place and said it was over quickly as police rushed onto the scene.

“We just heard the shots,” he said.

Kosovo Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi says German police have identified the suspect who is in custody as Arif Uka, a Kosovo citizen from the northern town of Mitrovica.

“This is a devastating and a tragic event,” Rexhepi said. “We are trying to find out, was this something that was organized or what was the nature of the attack.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany will do “everything possible” in its investigation of the shooting.

“We don’t know the details yet,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin, expressing her condolences to the families of those killed. “We will do whatever is needed to determine what happened there,” she said. “It’s a terrible event.”

U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, says the shooting looks like it could be a terrorist attack. Meehan is the chairman of the subcommittee that focuses on terrorism and intelligence.

The lawmaker made clear that he did not have all the facts about the shooting and was still being briefed by his staff.