Algerian psychiatric patient ‘with links to Islamic extremists’ escapes from German hospital as police place shopping mall on lockdown
Armed police pictured hunting the 19-year-old man as shoppers are evacuated from Bremen mall
A GERMAN shopping mall was evacuated after an Algerian psychiatric patient with suspected links to extremists escaped a nearby hospital after yelling at staff: "I'll blow you up".
Police placed Bremen's Weserpark centre on lockdown after the 19-year-old man was later seen 'acting suspiciously' inside.
They confirmed he had previously made statements sympathising with a gunman who shot dead nine people in Munich on Friday and ISIS extremists.
However, downplaying the incident, police said they had no concrete evidence the man had links to the militant group.
Images emerging from the scene showed heavily-armed police hunting for the unnamed man.
Separately, shoppers were seen being led out of the complex.
Police confirmed the man - who escaped from a care unit in the nearby state of Lower Saxony - could be a danger to members of the public.
They added shoppers had called police to report what they described as suspicious behaviour by a man who was later identified as the missing patient.
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It comes after police confirmed they had foiled another terror plot in the country.
Cops raided the home of a 15-year-old schoolboy in Stuttgart after receiving a tip-off, finding an array of weapons and explosives.
The suspect had also been in contact with Munich gunman Ali Sonboly, 18, who shot nine people dead in a rampage last Friday.
It is believed he looked up to the deranged killer and planned to carry out a copycat attack on a school in Stuttgart.
Officers are said to have found escape plans for several schools when they swooped on the boy’s house in the Ludwigsburg district of the city.
German magazine Der Spiegel said cops also came across large quantities of chemicals, materials and instructions for making explosives, knives and ammunition for a small calibre firearm.
It is not thought the boy had any links to ISIS or another Islamic terror group.
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