German man on run for five days after disarming police arrested

Police arrest German man dubbed ‘Rambo’ who spent five days on the run in the Black Forest after disarming four police officers at gunpoint

  • Police today announced Yves Rausch had been arrested after disarming officers
  • Officers searched forest near Oppenau, Germany for the man dubbed ‘Rambo’
  • The 31-year-old disarmed four German police officers on Sunday and then fled
  • A manifesto was found in a bar and is thought to have been written by Rausch
  • It argues people who live close to nature are superior to modern city-dwellers 

A man who disarmed four officers at gunpoint in southwestern Germany before fleeing into the Black Forest has been arrested after five days on the run, police said today.

In a brief statement, police said four firearms were seized but did not give further details of what happened. 

Hours earlier, they had appealed for 31-year-old Yves Rausch, who was dubbed ‘Rambo’, to contact authorities, either directly or via family or friends.

Rausch disarmed four officers at gunpoint in Germany

Special forces and helicopters were used in a huge manhunt for a camouflage-wearing Yves Etienne Rausch, 31, (pictured) who disarmed four officers at gunpoint in Germany

Around 200 officers are combing the Black Forest with the help of special forces, helicopters and sniffer dogs in the search for  Yves Etienne Rausch, who fled on Sunday

Around 200 officers are combing the Black Forest with the help of special forces, helicopters and sniffer dogs in the search for  Yves Etienne Rausch, who fled on Sunday 

On Sunday, police were alerted about a suspicious person carrying a bow and arrow. 

Officers located a suspect and conducted an ID check on the man at a hut he was using illegally.

Officials in the town of Oppenau say the suspect initially cooperated but then suddenly pulled a gun on the officers, threatening and forcing them to hand over their service weapons. Nobody was injured.

The manifesto, titled 'The Call of the Wild', is thought to have been written by Rausch. Pictured: Police during their initial hunt for Rausch on Sunday

The manifesto, titled ‘The Call of the Wild’, is thought to have been written by Rausch. Pictured: Police during their initial hunt for Rausch on Sunday

The incident triggered a large-scale manhunt, though that was scaled down as the search went on.

Prosecutors have described the suspect as a ‘weapons enthusiast’ but said he was banned from possessing weapons and ammunition in 2010 and had never been in a shooting club. 

Rausch lost his apartment last autumn and had no permanent address since then, according to authorities. 

Officials have said they don’t know what prompted Rausch to act the way he did. 

He is thought to have penned a manifesto title ‘The Call of the Wild’, found by police in a bar.

The discovered manifesto argues that people who live close to nature are superior to modern city-dwellers. 

Rausch spent time in prison for shooting his girlfriend with a bow and arrow, local media reports. 

His mother told Baden Online the police should 'withdraw all their forces' because he will 'come out of the forest by himself'. Pictured: One officer during the search for Rausch

His mother told Baden Online the police should ‘withdraw all their forces’ because he will ‘come out of the forest by himself’. Pictured: One officer during the search for Rausch

Around 200 officers are combing the Black Forest with the help of special forces, helicopters and sniffer dogs in the search for Rausch, who fled on Sunday. 

His mother told Baden Online the police should ‘withdraw all their forces’ because he will ‘come out of the forest by himself’.  

Local newspaper Badische Zeitung reported that the forest area could not be cordoned off and each officer involved in the search was carrying a backpack weighing up to 66 pounds (30kg). 

The paper added that Rausch could survive by eating wild plants and insects and by drinking spring water. 

There are also local vegetable plots which he could raid at night, they claimed.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk