Police in the German capital said Tuesday that two people were injured in a knife attack in West Berlin.
The New Year’s Eve stabbing took place in the western district of Charlottenburg, a police spokesman said.
Emergency services were alerted shortly before 12 noon local time (11:00 UTC/GMT), police said.
The Berliner Morgenpost newspaper reported that the attack began inside a supermarket on the corner of Quedlinburger Strasse, before moving out onto the sidewalk close to a hotel.
The suspect, a Syrian national living in Sweden, stabbed his victims with a knife stolen from a supermarket, police said in a statement.
Report: Shopkeepers intervened to control the knifeman
Berliner Zeitung (BZ) reported that several passersby pounced on the attacker and held him back until police arrived. The paper described how the suspect had apparently “stabbed wildly.”
Two people were hospitalized and the suspect was later arrested.
Police later said one of the victims was still in the hospital, with the other released after outpatient treatment.
BZ said there was no immediate evidence of a terrorist-inspired attack.
Police said preliminary findings indicate the man has mental health issues.
The police statement said an investigation into the attempted murder had been launched and taken over by a homicide squad from the Berlin State Criminal Police Office.
Germany is on alert after a deadly attack at a Christmas market earlier this month killed five people and injured more than 200 others in the eastern city of Magdeburg.
Berlin authorities have also deployed 4,000 police officers and 1,500 firefighters ahead of New Year’s Eve fireworks at the Brandenburg Gate on Tuesday night.
Police on Tuesday evening announced a ban on carrying weapons, including knives, and fireworks by the public.
mm/wd (ap,dpa)
