Armed man holding 4-year-old daughter hostage on German airport tarmac in suspected custody dispute

An armed man drove through security at a German airport and is currently holding his 4-year-old daughter in his car on the tarmac, according to reports.

The 35-year-old man broke through a gate at the Hamburg Airport around 8:15 p.m. Saturday and fired several shots in the air with a weapon, according to federal police.

He also tossed Molotov cocktails from his vehicle, which he parked next to a Turkish Airlines commercial plane while passengers were on board, German newspaper Bild reported. 

The plane was quickly evacuated, and all passengers are safe, police confirmed.

Shortly before he smashed through the security barriers, the man’s wife had contacted police about a possible child abduction.

Police later confirmed the man had a 4-year-old girl in the car they believed to be his daughter.

The man, believed to be of Turkish origin from Lower Saxony, had snatched the child from her mother by force amid a custody battle, according to the paper.

Federal police spokesman Thomas Gerbert told dpa that a large number of officers from state and federal police were on-site and in the vicinity of the vehicle.

Police also said that a psychologist was talking with the man and that there was no indication other people could be harmed since all passengers had evacuated the airport.

“He wants to talk to us and we initially rate that as very positive,” police told Bild.

All flights were canceled Saturday night, impacting roughly 3,200 passengers, airport officials said.

With Post wires