An armed father tossing Molotov cocktails shut down a major German airport over a custody dispute, police and reports say

• Police arrested a man who they say took his daughter hostage at the Hamburg Airport.
• The man threw "burning bottles" from his vehicle, according to reports.

German police say they have arrested a man who drove onto an airport tarmac and held his 4-year-old daughter hostage for 18 hours over a custody dispute.

Hamburg Police announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that they had captured the man after he stepped out of the car with his daughter. Authorities arrested the man without resistance, and the child appeared to be unharmed, according to the statement.

Police said the man threw "burning bottles" from his vehicle and shot a weapon into the air twice, according to the BBC. A federal police spokesperson told German publication Bild the bottles were "a kind of Molotov cocktail."

The hostage situation began at around 8 p.m. local time when the man drove his car into the Hamburg Airport and parked it under a Turkish Airlines plane, police said, according to the BBC.

A Hamburg Police spokesperson said the man disagreed with decisions made by authorities about his custody agreement and intended to travel to Turkey with his daughter, the outlet reported. The child's mother had already reported her missing to police when the man arrived at the airport, police said.

The Hamburg Airport had 286 flights with around 34,500 passengers scheduled for Sunday, according to Reuters.

The airport said in a statement that it is preparing to have flight operations open as soon as possible.

The hostage situation is the second time in recent months that people making their way onto airport tarmacs have caused disruptions. In July, eight climate activists glued themselves to the ground on the airfield, causing 17 arrivals and 19 departures to be canceled, Reuters reported.