4 Customs Agents Killed at German Border Crossings

Fatal shootings on two German borders Tuesday shocked a government intent on securing its frontiers against illegal immigrants and contraband from Southern and Eastern Europe.

The killings of four customs agents in unrelated attacks on the Polish and Swiss borders were--in the words of the Finance Ministry--”unprecedented” in postwar Germany.

On the border with Switzerland, in the town of Konstanz, an Italian gunman shot his way through the crossing about 10:30 a.m., killing one German and one Swiss agent before shooting himself.

German authorities said the gunman, who was seriously injured, apparently was a weapons smuggler: A search of his car uncovered explosives, five handguns, three machine guns and ammunition in two boxes with Hebrew script.

The shooting at the Poland-Germany crossing, at Goerlitz, was more perplexing, with an unclear motive. Goerlitz is the best-controlled border to the east and the most modern of Poland’s 16 crossings into Germany.

The attack started about 3:30 a.m. when customs officials on the German side stopped a bus carrying 21 passengers from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Frankfurt.

Customs agents started searching the bus. As they removed a grate from a ventilation duct in the back of the vehicle, a Kazakh grabbed one of the agents’ guns.

He began shooting wildly, killing the two German agents. Two passengers also were injured, although it was unclear whether the bullets that struck them were fired by the attacker or the agents.

The man fled after breaking a window in the back of the bus, but police arrested him nearby.