Shots from a moving car - that's behind it

Police officers secured tracks until late at night. In Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, an unknown person shot out of a moving SUV on Thursday evening, seriously injuring two men aged 40 and 49. According to WELT information, the injured belong to the extended O family known to the police.

During the night, a special task force searched several apartments. Crime scene photos show that at least four shots broke through the window of an office on the ground floor of an apartment building. According to the police, the two men were sitting in the office at the time of the attack and were hit by the shots. The 40-year-old was taken to the hospital with injuries to his back and arm and operated on there. According to the police, there is no danger to life. The man is said to have released himself from the hospital against the advice of the doctors. The 49-year-old suffered head injuries and was treated at the scene.

The overall constellation is explosive. According to information from this newspaper, the police know the name of the suspected shooter. The crime vehicle, a BMW X5, was discovered nearby and secured. The owner of the vehicle is the deceased sister of the two men who were shot.

The widower is the suspect. He and the deceased woman are said to have three children together. Investigators are considering custody and inheritance disputes as a possible motive for the shooting. The investigations have been taken over by the 4th Homicide Squad of the State Criminal Police Office.

In an internal risk assessment, the police believe that further escalation of the conflict is likely. The investigators assigned the 49-year-old O. to the relevant group of criminal clan structures. He is considered the head of his family branch and is known to the police. The 40-year-old O. is also known to the police for several crimes.

The Berlin clan milieu only came into focus again at the end of April. A fatal stabbing had occurred at a fair in Berlin-Neukölln. The victim: 25-year-old Mohammed R.

R.'s brother, the well-known intensive offender Nidal R., was shot in 2018 very close to Tempelhofer Feld. Clan leaders from all over Germany traveled to his funeral. To date, the perpetrators have not been caught. Since then, authorities have feared further acts of revenge.

The Berlin state chairman of the police union, Stephan Weh, said: "Unfortunately, it is no secret that protagonists from organized crime do not shy away from armed violence, and that disputes are also settled on the open street." It is part of their habitus that criminal clan members used firearms to solve competitive situations and completely unscrupulously accepted the death of their opponents as well as those of bystanders.