Police in the western German city of Mannheim have asked the public to stay away from the central area and stay inside their homes.
Officers would not disclose what prompted the large law enforcement presence in the centre of Mannheim, a city of about 300,000 people south of Frankfurt.
A police spokesman Stefan Wilhelm told n-tv television that an “incident” occurred at around 12.15pm in the Paradeplatz area which triggered a large police deployment. He said he could not give further details.
Authorities sent an alert on the Katwarn app telling people in Mannheim to avoid the city centre due to a big police deployment.
Katwarn is used by officials to communicate information about major emergencies such as thunderstorms, militant attacks or fires.
