Sniper responsible for 700 shootings held in Germany

A 57-year-old truck driver in Germany has confessed he is the mysterious "expressway sniper" responsible for shooting at at least 762 other road users, police said.

The Federal Criminal Police (or BKA) said the suspect, known as Michael K, worked as a truck driver in Eifel region in southwest Germany, Xinhua reported.

He was allegedly involved in "weird serial shootings" while driving his truck since 2008, which caused panic on roads across Germany, police said.

A number of firearms of different calibres and 1,300 rounds of ammunition were found in his home during the raid.

The man has confessed to the shootings, federal police president Joerg Ziercke said, calling the case "unique in criminal history".

Despite the high number of shootings, the incidents resulted in no deaths. Two women drivers were seriously wounded, including one who was hit in the throat while driving near Wurzburg in 2009 and the other who lost control of her car to crash into the median barrier.

The motorway shootings remained a mystery to German police since 2008. The reward for clues leading to the arrest of the culprit was raised to as high as 100,000 euros after the shooter changed to weapons with more powerful calibre.

Police later installed hidden roadside cameras with number plate recognition technology.

Police also resorted to ballistic investigation to find out that the shooting could have been fired from inside a truck, indicating that the offender might be a truck driver, according to local broadcaster Suedwestrundfunk.