http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08 ... topstories

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- Four people were killed in a shooting at a gelato shop in western Germany on Tuesday, police said.


Investigators examine the scene of a fatal shooting in Ruesselheim, Germany, on Tuesday.

Shots rang out about 8 p.m., with one man killed outside the Eis de Rocco cafe in downtown Ruesselheim, southwest of Frankfurt, police said.

A man and a woman were killed inside the cafe, and a fourth victim died of his wounds on the way to the hospital, officials said.

Officers mobilized a manhunt after the shooter fled the scene in the town's pedestrian district near the main train station, police spokesman Ferdinand Derigs said.

Police blocked off the center of Ruesselheim, about 17 miles (28 kilometers) from Frankfurt, and were searching for the shooter with the aid of dogs and helicopters. See a map of where Ruesselheim is located »

The victims' identities remain unclear.

Almost exactly a year ago, six people were shot to death in the town of Duisburg, northwest of Frankfurt, in a shooting blamed on an organized crime syndicate based in the southern Italian region of Calabria.


Seven people were arrested in connection with the Duisburg deaths.

Police spokesman Marc Wuthe said it was unclear whether Tuesday's shooting had any link to organized crime.

I posted this in the interest of so many EU countries being critical of the U.S., now and in the past. Although I looked up some information on Germanies gun laws, which was said by one author, to resemble Massachussets guns laws, they do allow the ownership of guns, with a great deal os strictness.

Now from time to time, we have all heard criticism from European countries about crime in the U.S., and the NRA has contended that even if guns were outlawed, criminals would still have guns and will not, nor ever have been, legally licesnsed for those guns. It appears the same holds true in Europe too.