A man with a pickaxe and an incendiary device was shot near a Euro 2024 fan park in Hamburg.
Police opened fire after the man refused to drop the axhitting him in the leg, German news agency dpa reported.
Dramatic footage shows the suspect carrying a backpack through the busy neighborhood before being doused with pepper spray. Armed police then jumped barriers to chase him, before loud gunshots could be heard.
The incident reportedly occurred on the sidelines of a fan parade, known as the ‘Fan Walk’, which began at 12:30 pm local time.
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In a note on social media, the city police said: “In São Paulo There is currently a major police operation.
“According to initial findings, a person threatened the police officers with a pickaxe and an incendiary device. The police then used their firearms.
“The attacker was injured and is currently receiving medical treatment.”
The force added that the event in Heiligengeistfeld is subject to security checks and that it is working on the assumption that this was the action of a lone perpetrator.
A police spokesman said there was no initial indication that the incident was related to the football game.
Images were published in German media of the man lying on the ground and surrounded by police officers.
Thousands of Dutch and Polish fans are in the city ahead of today’s 2pm kick-off in Group D.
The incident occurred on the Reeperbahn, a popular entertainment area in Hamburg city center that was reportedly packed with football fans.
On Saturday night, thousands of German officers policed tens of thousands of Dutch fans, who turned the red light district into a sea of orange.
german newspaper Photograph reported that the man attacked a police officer using a golden hammer, before four shots were fired.
Germany will host the month-long Euro 2024 tournament, which kicked off on Friday night.
It is not the first violent incident to hit the headlines, with a knife-wielding man shot dead after killing one person and seriously injuring two others shortly after the opening match.
The attacker attacked a garden in the city of Magdeburg, where a family was organizing a private party to watch the game against Scotland.
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