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Police shoot axe-wielding man in Hamburg ahead of Euro 2024 football match

  • Police shot and injured a man who threatened them with an axe and a Molotov cocktail. A 39-year-old German man has been identified as a suspect

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Police at the scene after officers shot a man armed with a pickaxe and a Molotov cocktail near the Reeperbahn in Hamburg-St Pauli, Germany on Sunday. Photo: dpa

German police shot and injured a man after he threatened passers-by and officers with a hammer and a Molotov cocktail ahead of a Euro 2024 football match in Hamburg on Sunday, officials said.

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“At around midday on Sunday, a man threatened several passers-by and police officers with a slate hammer and a Molotov cocktail,” police said in a statement.

Police then shot and injured the attacker, who “may have been having a psychiatric crisis”, the statement added.

Hamburg was thronging with football fans at the time ahead of the Euro 2024 match between Poland and the Netherlands.

The incident triggered a “major operation” in the city’s St Pauli district, police said on X, formerly Twitter.

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However, police said there was no indication of a link to the Euro 2024 clash.

Moments after a man carrying an axe was shot down by police in the St Pauli district of Hamburg, Germany on Sunday. Photo: Nonstopnews via Reuters
Moments after a man carrying an axe was shot down by police in the St Pauli district of Hamburg, Germany on Sunday. Photo: Nonstopnews via Reuters
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