A 26-year-old Eritrean man in Germany was wounded in a drive-by shooting suspected to have been racially motivated.
The perpetrator of the shooting was then found dead, having fled the central German town of Wächtersbach and turned the gun on himself in his car found in a neighbouring town.
"We are currently working on the assumption of a very clear xenophobic motive," Frankfurt state prosecutor spokesman Alexander Badle said, adding that the Eritrean man was chosen “because of his skin colour”.
The victim is currently in a stable condition following an operation.
Police searched the home of the 55-year-old shooter and found three firearms, all reportedly legally owned.
The shooting happened close to the scene where German politician Walter Lübcke was killed by a neo-Nazi known as Stephan E.
Investigators noted that the shooting on Monday happened on the anniversary of the mass-murder of 77 people in Oslo and Utoya, Norway, in 2011, by far-right terrorist Anders Breivik.
Police said they want to find out whether there is any connection between the two.
"Whether there is a correlation with Breivik is an aspect that is interesting for us," Mr Badle said.
According to German news agency DPA, the dead suspect had been living in the area for two years, and had lived a quiet life.
Hundreds of people turned up in a vigil in solidarity against Germany’s far-right.
German government's commissioner for migration, refugees, and integration, Annette Widmann-Mauz tweeted her support in tackling racist hate speech.
“In the middle of Germany someone shoots at a man from Eritrea,” she wrote. “Out of hate speech comes violence, out of hatred comes murder. We cannot and must not tolerate this! For this reason: no relativization, but consistent action against racism and far-right extremism.”
Mitten in Deutschland wird auf einen Mann aus Eritrea geschossen. Aus Hetze wird Gewalt, aus Hass irgendwann Mord. Das können und dürfen wir nicht hinnehmen! Deshalb: Kein Relativieren, sondern konsequentes Vorgehen gegen Rassismus und Rechtsextremismus. #Wächtersbach
— A.Widmann-Mauz (@AWidmannMauz) July 23, 2019
The far-right is on the rise in Germany and across Europe.
According to a report published by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the number of violent crimes committed by right-wing extremists rose by 3.2% in 2018 despite an overall drop in right-wing crimes.
