Police said they had ended a suspected hostage-taking in the eastern German city of Dresden on Saturday, after evacuating a shopping mall in the historic city centre and shutting the famous Striezelmarkt Christmas market.
"All-clear! The hostage situation in #Dresden is over!" police said on Twitter, adding that two people who appeared to be unharmed were in its care.
It did not provide any details on the suspect.
News outlet TAG24 earlier cited police as saying that a 40-year-old German man was believed to have killed his 62-year-old mother in an apartment building in the Prohlis district of Dresden, southeast of the city centre.
It said that police said the hostage-taking at the Altmarkt-Galerie shopping mall was related to the killing but declined to provide further details.
The incident comes as security has shifted into focus in Germany, after investigators earlier this week foiled a far-right plot to overthrow the German government and install an aristocrat as the leader of a new state.
Man charged with 10 counts of attempted murder after knife attack on UK train
Tanzania's Hassan sworn into office after deadly election violence
Powerful 6.3 quake kills at least 20 in Afghanistan, hundreds injured
Turkey set to call for action on Gaza as soon as possible, source says
Hamas hands over three more hostage bodies
India federal agency freezes Anil Ambani Group's $853 million properties
Israeli strike kills one in Gaza as sides trade blame for truce violations
UK police say mass stabbing on train not terrorist incident, two arrested
