Suspected shisha bar gunman published racist manifesto

A man suspected of shooting dead nine people in shisha bars in a German town before killing himself and his mother had posted a manifesto online including conspiracy theories and deeply racist views, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Joe Davies reports.

Nine people were shot dead at two shisha bars in the German town of Hanau on Wednesday (February 20) night by a gunman with suspected far-right links.

On Thursday (February 21), a video recorded earlier on an unknown date emerged, showing the suspect addressing Americans.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SUSPECTED SHOOTER, TOBIAS R., SAYING: "Your country is under control of invisible secret societies.

They use unknown evil methods like mind control.

Wake up.

This is one form of reality in your country.

Turn off the mainstream media.

They don't have a clue.

To end this nightmare, fight now." German prosecutors have named him as 43-year-old Tobias R, following protocol in the country to only give the initial of the suspect's surname.

He is now dead.

After the rampage, in which several Germans and other nationals including Turkish migrants were killed, the suspect returned to a house elsewhere in Hanau, where he appears to have shot dead his mother before killing himself.

On Thursday morning, a black BMW believed to belong to him was removed from the house.

One of those he shot and wounded spoke in hospital of the terror.

(SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) WOUNDED EYEWITNESS, MUHAMMED (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "The man entered to the side (section) and killed them all.

He came to our side.

He shot straight to the head of everyone he saw.

He laid down and then he fired at all of us.

I hid behind the wall.

As I was moving to hide, he shot me in the arm.

I laid on somebody.

Somebody laid on me and somebody else laid on him.

We became a pile." A spokesman for Germany's general public prosecutor addressed the media on Thursday.

(SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN GENERAL PROSECUTOR SPOKESMAN PETER FRANK SAYING: "On the homepage of the suspected perpetrator, he put up video messages and a kind of manifest as well as disturbing thoughts and abstruse conspiracy theories, and presented deeply racist sentiments.

Because of that I have taken over this investigation in agreement with Frankfurt's general public prosecutor." Why this gun rampage happened - and whether anything could have been done to prevent it - will be now be the subject of an intense investigation.