Police in Dresden, Germany, evacuated a shopping center and the surrounding area because of a possible hostage taking, according to a police statement, on Saturday.

“The Dresden Police Department is presently conducting an operation in Dresden’s center. The suspicion of a hostage situation is the background “On its website, the police posted a statement.

German daily Bild reported that an armed man had killed a woman, then stormed a local radio station and fired shots before fleeing into a shopping mall where he took several hostages.

Nobody picked up the phone at the Radio Dresden broadcaster or at the Altmarkt-Galerie shopping mall when called by Reuters.

Radio Dresden said on its website earlier that an armed man had entered the Ammonhof office building, where the radio station is located, around 8.30 am local time (0730 GMT) and that shots had been fired.

The police did not confirm the details reported by Radio Dresden and Bild but urged citizens to avoid the city centre. It added that the famous Striezelmarkt Christmas market would remain closed for the time being.