Feb. 26 (UPI) — A man deliberately rammed a car into a pedestrian area in Heidelberg, Germany, killing a 73-year-old man and injuring two others.
Shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, police say the suspect drove a rental car into crowded area of Bismarkplatz square in the city in southwest Germany. The 35-year-old unidentified man was armed with a knife as got out of the car and attempted to flee, before he was confronted by officers and shot.
“There are no indications of a terrorist background,” police spokesman David Faulhaber told reporters. He gave no possible motives for the attack.
Last December in a terrorist attack, a Tunisian man drove a stolen truck into a crowd of people that killed 12 people and injured 56. And on Saturday night in New Orleans, a 25-year-old man drove his car into a crowd at the Endymion parade while allegedly intoxicated, injuring 28 people, police said.
Police in Mannheim, Germany, posted on Twitter: “German WITHOUT migration background!”
The suspect was taken to a hospital. According to local newspaper Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, the man was not in physical shape to be questioned.
Treated and released from a hospital were a 32-year-old woman from Austria and a 29-year-old man from Bosnia-Herzegovina. The 73-year-old German man died at an area hospital and his identity has not yet been made public.
Witnesses told the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung newspaper a black Opel car was waiting at a red light. After the lights turned green, he drove the directly at a crowd in a pedestrian zone near a busy tram and bus stop, outside a bakery. The car hit three people and struck a pillar.
“Afterwards, the suspect climbed out of the vehicle and moved away on foot, armed with a knife,” police said. “In front of the local indoor swimming pool, he was identified by a police patrol on the advice of passersby. During the arrest, the police officers used firearms.”
The city is home to Germany’s oldest university, Heidelberg University, and several reputable research institutions.