Hamburg Police Shot Down Man With Axe Ahead Of Euros 2024 Match (X image@MulticornCrypto)
As the Euros 2024 started, security measures are heightened in Hamburg. Officials in Germany said that a major operation is taking place in the central Hamburg, after a man with axe threatened police officers. The man is receiving medical attention as he was shot and seriously injured by the police, said police.
As per media reports, the incident took place near a fanzone for the supporters of Dutch football team. An initial police statement said that a man threatened police officers with a pickaxe and an “incendiary device”, as reported by BBC.
The suspect was carrying a pickaxe and had tried to ignite a petrol bomb – but that officers responded with pepper spray and then shot him, Hamburg police told BBC.
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Video footages circulating online showed a man wielding an axe in front of police officers before a series of suspected gunshot sounds can be heard. The man and his motivation behind the act is not identified yet.
16.06.2024 EURO 2024
Police have shot down a man armed with an axe at the Reeperbahn in Hamburg🇩🇪 near Netherlands🇳🇱 fans (12:30)https://t.co/xhkerIV5On pic.twitter.com/NqiCi8Swm1— Hooligans.cz Official (@hooliganscz1999) June 16, 2024
The New York Times’s chief soccer correspondent in Hamburg, Rory Smith, said that the incident took place on the Reeperbahn, a main street and nightlife area in the city just a few hundred yards from the Dutch fanzone.
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A match between Netherlands and Poland in the tournament will take place today, Sunday. Preparations were going ahead as planned for the match which kicks off at 15:00 local time, said BBC.
Reportedly, there are approximately 30,000 Dutch fans and probably a similar number of Polish fans in the city. The atmosphere appears to be unhinged by the incident.
