Somali knife attacker kills three, injures ‘several’ in German town of Wuerzburg

Bystanders cornered the Somali suspect using cafe chairs until he was shot by police

Police in Wuerzburg, Germany after three people were kiled in a stabbing attack (REUTERS)

Three people were killed and several wounded in a knife attack in the centre of the German town of Wuerzburg on Friday, according to police who overpowered and arrested the suspected attacker, a 24-year-old Somali man.

Videos posted on social media showed the suspect holding a knife being cornered by witnesses armed with cafe chairs.

They said there was no indication that there were any other attackers, and that the situation was under control.

Bavaria’s top security official Joachim Herrmann said the injured include a young boy, whose father was probably among the dead.

He said the suspect was in psychiatric treatment before the attack and had been known to police.

Julia Runze, who said she had witnessed the attack, told RTL: “He had a really big knife with him and was attacking people. And then many people tried to throw chairs or umbrellas or cellphones at him and stop him.

“The police then approached him and I think a shot was fired, you could hear that clearly.”

“Three people were killed,” Lower Franconia police wrote on Twitter. “Others were injured, some seriously. The man, who lives in Wuerzburg, was hit with a police bullet, but his life is not in danger.”

Wuerzburg, which is south-east of Frankfurt. was the scene of an Isis-inspired terror attack in July 2016 in which a teenager attacked train passengers with an axe to avenge the killing of a friend in Afghanistan. The 17-year-old refugee was shot dead by police as he fled.