Hamburg Police confirmed they shot a man who threatened them with a pickaxe and an “incendiary device” near where Netherlands fans have gathered ahead of their Euro 2024 match.
The incident took place in the St Pauli district of Hamburg on Sunday at around 12.30pm local time, roughly 90 minutes before Poland were set to face Netherlands at the nearby Volksparkstadion.
A statement from the Hamburg Police read: “At St Pauli there is currently a major police operation. According to initial findings, a person threatened police officers with a pickaxe and an incendiary device. The police then used their firearms. The attacker was injured and is currently receiving medical treatment.”
Around 40,000 supporters have been in Hamburg peacefully with the incident occurring around the time when Dutch fans were marching to the stadium.
Pictures on social media had shown thousands of Netherlands supporters in the city enjoying the build-up to the Group D game against Poland.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, head of the UK Football Policing Unit, told Sky Sports News: “Nothing suggests there is any British involvement.
“It’s some way away in Hamburg from where we are but it’s a reminder that there’s a lot of things going on in the world that’s not necessarily linked to football. People need to be aware of their surroundings and take care.”
‘Incident not football-related’
Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol in Gelsenkirchen:
“After the Dutch fans had marched down the Reeperbahn – one of the main streets in Hamburg – an incident that’s been captured on video where somebody dressed in all black, holding a small pickaxe appears to threaten a group of German police officers.
“They tried to calm him down but when it looked like he was threatening them, it appears they used pepper spray on him which caused him to run away. He was chased by police officers who appeared to shoot him in the leg.
“We are being told that he is receiving hospital treatment and the German authorities say they believe this incident wasn’t football related, even though it happened very close to the kick-off of this game and very close to where lots of Dutch fans had been congregating.”
Euro 2024 fixtures – Sunday, June 16
Group D: Poland vs Netherlands (Hamburg, kick-off 2pm UK time)
Group C: Slovenia vs Denmark (Stuttgart, kick-off 5pm UK time)
Group C: Serbia vs England (Gelsenkirchen, kick-off 8pm UK time)