Three people were injured on Saturday in the scenic German city of Heidelberg when an unidentified man drove a car into a pedestrian area.

"A man drove into pedestrians, three injured, the suspect arrested and wounded," police said on Twitter.

The suspect, reportedly armed with a knife, fled the scene after the attack. But he was later shot and injured by police in a brief standoff.

The motives for the attack remained unknown. Police did not indicate whether the attack was intentional or by accident.

On Dec.19, 2016, an attacker drove a truck into a Christmas market near the iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, leaving 12 killed and more than 50 others injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

The perpetrator, identified as Anis Amri, turned out to be a Tunisian failed asylum seeker and was killed four days later in a shootout with police near Milan in Italy.

Heidelberg is a culture and university city and famous tourist destination situated on the river Neckar in southwest Germany. Located about 80 kilometers south of Frankfurt, Heidelberg is the fifth-largest city in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg.

Source: Xinhua