Berlin police arrest man after knife attack injures 2

Two people were wounded in a knife attack in western Berlin, police in Germany's capital said Tuesday.

The New Year's Eve stabbing took place in the western district of Charlottenburg, a police spokeswoman said.

Emergency services were alerted shortly before 12 p.m. local time (11:00 UTC/GMT), police said.

The Berliner Morgenpost newspaper reported that the attack began inside a supermarket on the corner of Quedlinburger Strasse and Sömmeringstrasse. Police said the knifeman then moved outside to the sidewalk close to a nearby hotel.

The suspect, a Syrian national who lives in Sweden, is said to have stabbed his victims with a knife he stole from the supermarket, police said in a statement.

Report: Shoppers intervened to overpower knifeman

The Berliner Zeitung (BZ) reported that several passers-by pounced on the attacker and overpowered him until the police arrived. The paper described how the suspect had apparently "stabbed wildly."

Two people were hospitalized and the suspect was later arrested.

Police later said one of the victims remains in hospital, the other was released after outpatient treatment.

"Initial findings indicate that the suspect may have signs of mental illness and that there is no indication for a terrorist motivation," police spokeswoman Jane Berndt told The Associated Press.

An attempted murder investigation has been opened and taken over by a homicide squad from the Berlin State Criminal Police Office, a police statement said.

Police shoot dead man who stole excavator

In a separate incident on New Year's Eve, police shot and killed a man after he stole an excavator in southwestern Germany, Germany's DPA news agency reported.

Three officers chased the suspect in the town of Grünsfeld after he drove the vehicle into the front of a hardware store, DPA said.

Three officers were slightly injured.

The attacker was identified as a 38-year-old German.

Magdeburg car ramming leaves Germans on edge

Germany remains on high alert after a deadly Christmas market attack earlier this month that killed five people and injured more than 200 others in the eastern city of Magdeburg.

Berlin authorities have also deployed 4,000 police officers and 1,500 firefighters ahead of New Year's Eve fireworks on Tuesday night at the Brandenburg Gate.

Police have announced a ban on the public carrying weapons, including knives, as well as fireworks on Tuesday night.

mm/wd (AP, dpa)