UPDATE - German police ends hostage situation at supermarket

UPDATES WITH POLICE STATEMENT; CHANGES HEADLINE, 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.

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

Local media reported that the gunman fired shots at a building near the main train station earlier Saturday, and later fled to the Altmarkt-Galerie mall in Dresden, where he had taken several people hostage.