Two police officers shot dead in Germany

Two police officers were shot dead on a rural road in western Germany while on a routine patrol early Monday. The shooting happened during a traffic check near Kusel police in Kaiserslautern. The officers radioed that shots were being fired.

But reinforcements who arrived at the scene were unable to help the 24-year-old woman and 29-year-old man. Spokesman Bernhard Christian Erfort said he didn't know whether the officers had seen something particular about the assailants' vehicle that they wanted to check or whether it was just a routine check.