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'Rambo' suspect arrested after five-day manhunt in Black Forest
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Published at 7:22pm 17th July 2020. (Updated at 10:30pm 17th July 2020)
Police in Germany have arrested a man - nicknamed "Rambo" - five days after he disarmed four officers at gunpoint and fled into the Black Forest wearing camouflage clothing and carrying weapons including a bow and arrow.
On Sunday, police had received reports about an armed man acting suspiciously in the town of Oppenau, in the south-west of the country.
Detectives released a picture of Yves Rausch and described him as being around 5ft 7in tall, bald, with a goatee beard and needing glasses, and appealed for the public's help to find him.
Media reports dubbed the 31-year-old "Rambo" after the fictional Vietnam War veteran portrayed by actor Sylvester Stallone in the film franchise.
Officers found Rausch in a hut he was using illegally, and officials say he initially cooperated.
But he then suddenly pulled a gun on the four - threatening them and forcing them to hand over their service weapons. No one was injured.
It triggered a huge manhunt - involving hundreds of officers, helicopters and sniffer dogs - while residents were warned to stay indoors.
"He lives in the forest, he feels safe here," regional police chief Reinhard Renter said this week, according to German news agency dpa.
"The forest is simply his living room."
Following his arrest on Friday, four firearms were seized, police said in a brief statement.
Prosecutors have described Rausch as a "weapons enthusiast", but said he was banned from possessing them and ammunition in 2010, and had never been in a shooting club.
He lost his apartment last year and has had no permanent address since then, according to authorities.
Officials have said they do not know what prompted Rausch's actions.
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