German teen gunman in court

Hostage Atanasios Gianzios is led to safety by his parents after been freed

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WAIBLINGEN, Germany -- An armed teenager who held four pupils at a German school hostage before surrendering to police has been remanded in custody after appearing in court.

The 16-year-old former student demanded $1 million ransom and a getaway car during a nearly seven-hour standoff on Friday.

The incident, at the school in Waiblingen, near Stuttgart, ended at about 9:20 p.m local time (2020 BST) when the hostages were freed unharmed.

Police said the suspect was armed with an air pistol.

A local judge on Saturday ordered the teenager be held on hostage-taking charges.

Friday's incident started at about 2:30 p.m. when police received a call from a student using a mobile phone.

The teenager initially held a class and its female teacher hostage, police said.

Students ages 10 to 16 attend Friedens Schule (Peace School) in Waiblingen, a city of about 51,000 a few miles northeast of Stuttgart, in southern Germany.

In April, a 19-year-old former student killed himself and 16 other people in an attack inside a school in Erfurt, in eastern Germany. Thirteen of the dead were teachers.

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