3 air gun shots before pope mass in Germany—police

HOMECOMING. Pope Benedict XVI greets faithful outside Freiburger Cathedral (Freiburg Minster) in the southwestern German town of Freiburg Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. Pope Benedict is on a four-day official visit to his homeland Germany. On the same day, a man was arrested for allegedly firing three shots from an air gun around a kilometer (600 yards) from where Pope Benedict XVI was due to hold mass. AP

ERFURT – German police said they arrested a man suspected of firing three shots from an air gun on Saturday, around a kilometer (600 yards) from where Pope Benedict XVI was due to hold mass.

No-one was injured in the incident and a suspect was arrested in his apartment, from where the shots were fired, Eckhard Deutschmann, a local police spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

The shots were fired around two hours before the 84-year-old pontiff began his celebration of the mass before around 30,000 people, according to reporters on the scene. No link with the pope’s visit could be immediately established.

Security for the pope’s first visit to his native Germany has been extremely tight. Large parts of Berlin, Erfurt and Freiburg have been locked down for the trip amid a colossal police presence.

Local radio reported the shots were aimed at a security official.