UPDATE 2 - German police end hostage situation at supermarket

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS; CHANGES DECK; EDITS THROUGHOUT

BERLIN (AA) - German police said they apprehended the gunman who had taken two people hostage at a supermarket in the eastern German city of Dresden on Saturday.

“We arrested the 40-year-old gunman. Two hostages are now free and safe,” police spokesman Thomas Geithner told reporters at the scene.

He confirmed that the gunman had serious injuries and was being treated under police guard, but declined to give details about the police operation.

Earlier, police cordoned off the area, and urged people not to go to the Dresden old town. The popular Christmas market (Striezelmarkt) was also closed.

According to initial investigation, the suspect had shot his mother in her home earlier in the day, and later attempted to storm a radio station in the city center, Geithner said.

He then fled to the Altmarkt-Galerie mall in Dresden, where he had taken several people hostage, according to the police spokesman.