Knifeman ‘kills at least three people and wounds six’ in street rampage in Germany

A knifeman ‘killed at least three people and wounded six’ in a street rampage before German police shot him in the leg and arrested him, local media reports.

Police identified the suspect, who was wearing a face mask, as a 24-year-old Somali man living in Wurzburg. His life was not in danger from his gunshot wound, a spokeswoman said. 

The force said multiple people had been killed and injured, but did not give details. There has been no word yet on the possible motive for the attack.  

The situation is now under control, police added. 

Videos posted on social media showed pedestrians surrounding the attacker and holding him at bay with chairs and sticks at Barbarossaplatz in Wurzburg, Germany, on Friday.   

A knifeman has killed at least three people and wounded six in a street rampage at Barbarossaplatz in Wurzburg, Germany on Friday, local media reports

Police had sealed off parts of the city centre (pictured) for a ‘major operation’ on Friday afternoon and asked residents to stay away

A woman who said she had witnessed the incident told German RTL television that the police then stepped in.  

Julia Runze said: ‘He had a really big knife with him and was attacking people. Then many people tried to throw chairs or umbrellas or cellphones at him and stop him.’

‘The police then approached him and I think a shot was fired, you could hear that clearly.’  

‘The attacker was overpowered after police used a firearm,’ Lower Franconia police said on Twitter. ‘There are no indications of a second suspect. There is NO danger to the population.’

Police spokeswoman Kerstin Kunick said officers were alerted at around 5pm to a knife attack in Barbarossa Square in the centre of the city.

Bavaria’s governor Markus Soeder expressed shock at the news of the attack. ‘We grieve with the victims and their families,’ he wrote on Twitter.

Police said on Twitter that there was no danger to the population.

Bavaria’s top security official Joachim Herrmann was on his way to Wurzburg, a city of about 130,000 people located between Munich and Frankfurt. 

Footage of the incident posted online showed two men, one wielding a knife, circling each other in Barbarossaplatz

The second man, armed with a bag, attempts to scare off the knifeman and is shouting at him before he disappears off screen

Local media earlier reported multiple stabbings in Wurzburg, a city of some 130,000 people south-east of Frankfurt. 

Police had sealed off parts of the city centre for a ‘major operation’ on Friday afternoon and asked residents to stay away.

Footage of the incident posted online showed barefoot attacker wielding a long knife in Barbarossaplatz.

A second man, armed with a bag, can be seen circling the knifeman and shouting at him.  

He then disappears off screen as the suspect hurls the knifeman towards him. Several bystanders than intervene. 

Videos posted on social media showed a young man seemingly holding a knife being warded off by other men holding chairs until police arrived

The videos of members of the public chasing the knifeman matched the reported location of the attacks on and around Wuerzburg’s central Barbarossaplatz

Another video posted on social media appeared to show blood on the ground.

The clips matched the reported location of the attacks on and around Wuerzburg’s central Barbarossaplatz, though it was not immediately possible to confirm when they had been made.   

The knifeman was overwhelmed by police after being shot in the leg. He was taken into custody.

Several victims were treated by emergency services. No information on their condition was released.    

The knifeman was overwhelmed by police after being shot in the leg. He was taken into custody

Police had sealed off parts of the city centre for a ‘major operation’ on Friday afternoon and asked residents to stay away

Several victims were treated by emergency services. No information on their condition was released