A gunman who police shot dead on Thursday after he took hostages at a German cinema appeared to have been a "disturbed man", the interior minister of the state of Hesse said.

The gunman had a rifle or "long gun" and special forces intervened and shot him, interior minister Peter Beuth told the Hesse state parliament. There was no evidence that anyone besides the gunman was injured or killed, Beuth added.

A police spokeswoman also confirmed the gunman had been shot and said nobody was injured.

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