A masked gunman opened fire and took hostages in a movie theater in the western German town of Viernheim before being killed in a commando raid, German authorities are confirming. None were injured in the attack, but according to German media dozens were treated for exposure to tear gas. According to The Telegraph, “it remains unclear whether the armed man used a genuine firearm, as local media reports said a ‘gas or stun gun’ was used.”

Police spokesman Bernd Hochstaedter said authorities were told an armed man had entered the Kinopolis movie theater, wearing a mask and an ammunition belt, around 3 p.m. local time Thursday. He fired shots inside the theater, took hostages and barricaded himself inside. Germany’s Interior Minister Peter Beuth said that the gunman was subsequently shot and killed during the commando operation.

Investigators described the scene as a “threat situation” before the rescue assault. The incident lasted roughly three hours.

Hochstaedter said, “We believe that there were no injured people, and that the people who were in the cinema with the perpetrator could be freed uninjured.”

Although this does not appear to be a mass shooting, the incident not only recalled the Aurora movie massacre, but also two previous shootings in Germany: The 2002 killing of 16 people at a high school in Erfurt and a 2009 shooting spree which killed 15 in two small towns near Stuttgart.