Reports: Man wounded in Germany stabbing and shooting attack

A man was seriously injured in a stabbing and shooting attack in Cologne city center in western Germany on Monday, according to media reports.

German newspaper the Express reported that police were alerted to the incident just before 4 a.m. local time, with several callers saying three or four people appeared to be having problems with a man.

Witnesses said the men went at each other with axes, the paper reported.

A man was stabbed and tried to drive away, and the other men shot at him, hitting the car, the paper reported, adding that the two possible suspects were later stopped by police. Police spokeswoman Cathrine Maus told the Associated Press that a man was admitted to the hospital with serious injuries.

The motive for the attack is unclear.

Last week, Germany unveiled plans to ramp up security after the country saw four attacks in the space of just one week in July, three of them carried out by asylum-seekers and two of them claimed by the Islamic State.