A 40-year-old man suspected of killing his mother and later taking two people hostage in the east German city of Dresden has died, police said.

Authorities had urged people to avoid an area in the city centre and ordered Dresden’s Christmas market to remain closed while the police operation to free the hostages was under way.

Police initially said they were communicating with the suspect before announcing shortly after noon that the hostage situation was over.

“The suspect died during the operation,” Dresden police later wrote on Twitter. “The 40-year-old suffered fatal injuries while … the hostages were freed.”

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It was not immediately clear if the man had been killed by police or died of self-inflicted injuries.

Police also said the hostages were “outwardly uninjured”.

The 40-year-old German was also suspected of killing his 62-year-old mother. Police had found the woman dead in another part of the city early on Saturday.

Radio Dresden reported that the man had tried to enter a building where the broadcaster is based, near the city’s main train station.

He reportedly fired several shots before fleeing, according to Radio Dresden.