A 20-year-old man was arrested Thursday after allegedly fatally stabbing another man inside a bank branch in the southern German city of Regensburg, where the incident initially sparked fears of a hostage situation.
Special forces officers detained the German national inside the building about three hours after the incident was reported, a police statement said.
Paramedics had earlier managed to administer first aid to the victim before he was transferred to hospital, where he died. It remains unclear whether he was a customer or an employee of the bank.
Special forces officers wearing chainmail entered the building while the perpetrator was still inside and brought two other people to safety. They appeared to be unharmed and were cared for by crisis intervention teams.
Police said officers were continuing to search the building after the suspect's detention, although there was no indication anyone else had been involved.
"We currently assume this was the act of a lone perpetrator," a police spokeswoman said.
The incident initially prompted fears that the attacker was holding people hostage, and police were unable to determine how many people remained inside the bank. Investigators are treating the case as homicide and robbery. The suspect's motive was not immediately known.
Police and emergency services were deployed in large numbers. A large area was cordoned off around the bank, which is located on the ground floor of a large building complex with flats on the floors above it. The police urged people to avoid the area surrounding the crime scene as far as possible.
Local politicians expressed their condolences following the incident, with Regensburg Mayor Thomas Burger saying the incident had deeply shaken him. "My deepest sympathy goes out to the victim's family and loved ones," he wrote on Facebook.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said the man had been "the victim of a brutal, unprovoked attack" and had "obviously had no chance". He added that his thoughts were with the victim's family and loved ones and praised the special forces operation as "professional and precise."
