Germany: Black Forest fugitive held after 5 days on the run

BERLIN — A man who disarmed four officers at gunpoint in southwestern Germany before fleeing into the Black Forest has been arrested after five days on the run, police said Friday.

Four firearms were seized, police said in a brief statement, without giving further details of what happened. Hours earlier, they had appealed for 31-year-old Yves Rausch to contact authorities, either directly or via family or friends.

On Sunday, police were alerted about a suspicious person carrying a bow and arrow. Officers located a suspect and conducted an ID check on the man at a hut he was using illegally.

Officials in the town of Oppenau say the suspect initially cooperated but then suddenly pulled a gun on the officers, threatening and forcing them to hand over their service weapons. Nobody was injured.

The incident triggered a large-scale manhunt, though that was scaled down as the search went on.

Prosecutors have described the suspect as a “weapons enthusiast” but said he was banned from possessing weapons and ammunition in 2010 and had never been in a shooting club. Rausch lost his apartment last fall and had no permanent address since then, according to authorities. Officials have said they don’t know what prompted Rausch to act the way he did.