German police shot a man wielding a pickaxe in a bustling neighborhood a few miles from the venue of a Euro 2024 soccer match in northern Germany, according to a statement. A video appearing to show the incident also surfaced online.
“[A] person threatened police officers with a pickaxe and an incendiary device. The police then used their firearms,” a statement from Hamburg Police on X released just before 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) partly read. “The attacker was injured and is currently receiving medical treatment.”
The incident occurred in St. Pauli, Hamburg, the statement revealed. St. Pauli — a neighborhood reportedly known for its nightlife scenes and being one of the cradles that nurtured the Beatles — is about 5.5 miles northwest of the Volksparkstadion. The incident occurred about two hours before Poland and The Netherlands were due to clash at 3 p.m. local time (9:00 a.m. ET) at the Volksparkstadion in the fifth group-stage match of the ongoing Euro 2024 tournament.
A video that appeared to be of the incident showed a man in black wielding what seemed like a pickaxe and attempting to scale a police barrier in a raucous scene. An officer deployed what appeared to be pepper spray, but to little effect as the man briefly chased some bystanders. Thereafter, the suspect collapsed onto the ground amid a couple of gunshots. The police shouted instructions to the crowd and attended to the suspect, as a siren wailed. (RELATED: ‘All Right, All Right’: Tough-Talking Assault Suspect Who Swung Knife At Cops Surrenders After Police Gunfire, Video Shows)
🚨Breaking News🚨
Full video of a man wielding an axe in #hamburg. The police try to subdue him with pepper spray, which fails & is shot multiple times.
He is taken away in an ambulance. pic.twitter.com/HAFTh62nOa
— David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) June 16, 2024
The neighboring Schleswig-Holstein state police and 20 Dutch police officers were on hand to assist the Hamburg Police emergency services ahead of the soccer match, according to a separate statement posted about 30 minutes before the announcement of the incident.
A commenter replying to the Hamburg Police conjectured that the suspect was an Afghan, adding, “That’s no coincidence,” according to a translation.
“Since you write ‘should,’ I assume that you have no verified information that you are sharing here. Therefore, please refrain from doing so,” Hamburg Police warned the commenter.
“That’s why I wrote ‘should,'” rejoined the commenter. “Unfortunately, with so many attacks, it’s easy to get confused. If that’s not true, the police will definitely clarify it.”
A brief argument then ensued between the commenter and another person who criticized her for “[p]rofiling people” and queried whether the name of her social media account was at all German.
The match ended 2:1 in favor of the Netherlands. There appeared to be no further developments throughout the match, as the Hamburg Police wished the fans “a safe journey home.”
