A man opens fire on German police near the Czech border and is shot dead

BERLIN — A man was fatally shot near Germany's border with the Czech Republic after a federal police patrol stopped his car for a check and he fired at officers, police said Sunday.

The shooting occurred on a road between Schirnding and Münchenreuth, just inside Germany, on Saturday afternoon.

Bavarian police said the driver left his car and fired at the officers, who returned fire and fatally wounded him. He died at the scene.

The driver, who was alone in the car, was identified as a 47-year-old Iranian who had lived in the Mannheim area of southwestern Germany for several years.

Police believe he was returning from a trip to the Czech Republic to buy drugs, as he was carrying a “low three-digit gram” quantity of crystal meth, according to a Bavarian police statement.