Hells Angels member charged in Frankfurt shooting
January 11, 2017
In addition to the charges of attempted murder, the 56-year-old was also charged on Wednesday with aggravated bodily harm and violations of the weapons law, the district prosecutor said.
Reportedly a long-time member of the outlawed group "Westend" that is part of the "Hells Angels" motorcycle club, the accused was arrested in Romania on May 12, 2017, and has been in detention since his extradition a week later.
One of those injured was 20 years old, the other 41 - both of whom are believed to have origins in former Yugoslavia.
The prosecutor alleges that the charged used semi-automatic pistols in the Rockermilieu district of the city on May 5, 2016, with the aim of killing their targets. Shots were fired from a car with a
"Recalling Hells Angels" plaque on it, near Frankfurt's Friedrich-Stoltze Square.
The district court in Frankfurt will now rule on whether the prosecution will go ahead and then set a trial date.
A second alleged perpetrator, a 38-year-old Hell's Angel, is still being sought. The man had reportedly been expelled as member of the Rockerclub a few weeks earlier.
At a meeting in March 2016 between representatives of different gangs from the Rhine-Main area concerning the settlement of unpaid debts, the 41-year-old is said to have injured a member of the "Westend" gang and was expelled from the group.
A history of conflict
Frankfurt, Germany's financial center and home to the European Central Bank (ECB), has a history of conflict between the gangs.
Investigators do not believe, however, that the 41-year-old victim was a member of the Aygün Mucuk gang, as previously thought.
Macuk - the president of a mostly Turkish chapter of a gang in the town of Giessen - was killed on October 7 after a reported feud between him and two other members of the Giessen gang.
jbh/ksb (dpa, AFP)