BERLIN, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Stephan Balliet, convicted far-right extremist who carried out the deadly attack on a synagogue in Halle in 2019, took two guards hostage on Monday night at the Berg maximum security prison during an attempted jailbreak, Saxony-Anhalt's Ministry of Justice confirmed on Tuesday.
After an hour, he was overwhelmed by other guards. Balliet was reportedly injured in the incident. The two hostages were unharmed.
In October 2019, Balliet attacked the synagogue in Halle armed with multiple firearms and explosives. Inside, 51 people were observing Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. When he failed to penetrate the building, he shot dead two passersby.
In 2020, a German court found Balliet guilty of two counts of murder and over 60 counts of attempted murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
