Knife-wielding man kills 1, injures 4 others in German supermarket

A man wielding a knife has killed one and injured several others after going on the rampage through a German supermarket on Friday.

The attacker ran into an Edeka shop in the northern city of Hamburg and knifed a customer to death before slashing at four others as he fled.

He ran off but was pursued by passers-by who wrestled him to the ground and called police who made an arrest. 

Heavily armed officers have locked the area down and police helicopters have been seen above the crime scene. A motive for the knifing has not yet been established.

A witness told ‘Bild’ newspaper: “The man suddenly struck out on customers, there was one dead and several injured.”

A major manhunt got underway and 30 minutes later pictures emerged of a suspect covered in blood, with a white bag over his head in a police car.

He is understood to have suffered minor injuries as he was being held by bystanders. 

Hamburg police said on Twitter that there was only one attacker and that the motive for the incident in Hamburg’s Barmbek district wasn’t immediately clear.

Police have been on high alert in Germany since a spate of attacks on civilians last year, including a December attack on a Berlin Christmas market, when a hijacked truck ploughed into the crowds, killing 12 and injuring many more.