The airport in the northern German city of Hamburg was closed to passengers and flights were cancelled on Saturday night (local time) after a vehicle broke through security and entered the premises, the German news agency dpa reported.
Federal police said an armed man had broken through a gate with his vehicle and fired twice into the air with a weapon. Police also said the man’s wife had previously contacted them about a possible child abduction.
Police said later that the 35-year-old man had a four-year-old child inside the car and that they assumed he was the father and had taken the child by force from the mother in a possible custody battle.
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.
At 11.35am, Hamburg police said On X, formerly Twitter, that the car was still on the airport premises.
"We are currently assuming that a custody dispute is the background to the operation," the message read in translation.
"The LKA [State Criminal Police Office] negotiating group and psychologists are on site. There is contact with the person in the vehicle."
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