The incident triggered a 'major operation' in Hamburg's St Pauli district

Hamburg (AFP) - Police shot and injured a man who threatened them with an axe and a Molotov cocktail ahead of a Euro 2024 match in Hamburg on Sunday, German authorities said.

The incident triggered a “major operation” in the city’s St Pauli district, police said on X, formerly Twitter.

A 39-year-old German man has been identified as a suspect, police sources told AFP.

There was no indication of a link to the Euro 2024 clash between Poland and the Netherlands that took place later on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

The attacker “came out of a pub with a pickaxe and a Molotov cocktail and threatened the police”, the spokesman said, adding that the suspect was shot in the leg.

The police also said on X that the suspect was injured and receiving medical treatment.

The incident took place near the Reeperbahn station, more than a kilometre away from the city’s official fan zone.

However, most of Hamburg was thronging with football fans ahead of the match, in which the Netherlands beat Poland 2-1.