The perpetrator aimed specifically for peoples’ throats, one police spokesperson said. A second spokesperson later wouldn’t confirm or deny that detail and pointed to a news conference scheduled for the afternoon.

Fatal stabbings and shootings are relatively uncommon in Germany. The government said earlier this month it wanted to toughen rules on knives that can be carried in public by reducing the maximum length allowed.

In June, a 29-year-old policeman died after being stabbed in Mannheim during an attack on a right-wing demonstration. A stabbing attack on a train in 2021 injured several.

Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, visited the scene early on Saturday. He told reporters it was a targeted attack on human life but declined to speculate on the motive.