German police said officers opened fire on an axe-wielding suspect near a Euro 2024 fan parade in the city of Hamburg on Sunday, alleging he was endangering fans.
Hamburg police said unidentified people had threatened officers “with a pickaxe and incendiary devices” in the St. Pauli district.
The incident reportedly took place alongside a Euro 2024 football fan parade just hours before Poland and the Netherlands were due to play at the city’s Volksparkstadion stadium.
Officers fired their weapons and the assailant was injured and received medical treatment, police said in a statement.
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Police cordon off an area near the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. German police say officers shot and killed a man and wounded another who was threatening them with an axe and a Molotov cocktail. (Stephen Hutchings/dpa via The Associated Press)
Police authorities later said a “major police operation” was underway, adding that the event in Heiligengeistfeld was “fully guarded with numerous security checks taking place.”
“We currently believe the perpetrator acted alone,” police added.
The incident took place around the same time as a parade of Dutch fans, with around 40,000 football fans marching through the entertainment district, according to German broadcaster DW.
The suspect reportedly came out of the bar and began brandishing the axe in a “threatening manner.” When the man refused to put the axe down, police opened fire, hitting him in the leg, German news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur reported, citing Hamburg police. German media published photographs of a man lying in the street surrounded by paramedics and police.
A view of the Volkspark Stadium ahead of the 2024 European Football Championship in Hamburg, Germany, on May 14, 2024. (Christian Charisius/dpa via The Associated Press, File)
“As far as we know at this stage it is not football related,” a police spokesman told the outlet. No motive was immediately released.
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German authorities, concerned about possible violence or terror attacks by fans, have put police on high alert throughout the tournament, which began on Friday and runs until July 14.
Police officers walk on a sidewalk next to an apartment building in Wormirstedt, Germany, Saturday, June 15, 2024. German police say they shot and killed an Afghan man who attacked Afghans watching a televised broadcast of the Euro 2024 soccer tournament and later wounded three others. (Thomas Schulz/dpa via The Associated Press)
On Friday, police shot and killed a 27-year-old Afghan man who attacked a 23-year-old Afghan with “something like a knife” and later wounded three others while watching a television broadcast of Germany playing Scotland in Wormirstedt, a small town about 80 miles west of Berlin.
Police said Sunday that the motive for the attack remains unknown.
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The interior ministry of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, which includes Wormirstedt, said it had increased police presence across the state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
