Germany: Man hits 3 with car and flees, is shot by police

BERLIN – A man drove a car into pedestrians in a central square in the German city of Heidelberg on Saturday, injuring three people, then fled and was shot after being tracked down by officers, police said. One of the victims later died.

The man, who was driving a rental car, hit three people outside a bakery on Saturday afternoon. A 73-year-old German man died of his injuries in the evening at a local hospital.

A 32-year-old Austrian man and a 29-year-old woman from Bosnia were lightly injured.

The driver, who is believed to have been carrying a knife, then got out of his car, police said. A short time later, he was intercepted by a police patrol and shot by an officer following a short standoff.

The suspect, a 35-year-old German whose identity wasn’t released, was taken to a hospital and underwent an operation.

There was no immediate word on the man’s possible motives, where he came from or his condition in the hospital.

Police and prosecutors said that there are no indications of any terrorist background and the man appears to have acted alone.