Policemen stand in front of the Hotel Bergheim41 near the place where a man ploughed into pedestrians, before being shot by the police. Picture: Thomas Lohnes/AFP

German police said a man drove a car into a group of people in a central square in the German city of Heidelberg, injuring three.

The driver was later shot by police after fleeing the scene.

The man, who was driving a rental car, hit three people outside a bakery on Saturday afternoon. A 73-year-old German man died of his injuries in the evening at a local hospital.

Police said the driver’s motives remained unclear. Picture: Thomas Lohnes/AFPSource:AFP

A 32-year-old Austrian man and a 29-year-old woman from Bosnia were also injured.

Police said the driver, who is believed to have been carrying a knife, then got out of his car.

A short time later, he was intercepted by a police patrol and shot by an officer following a short stand-off.

The suspect, a 35-year-old German whose identity wasn’t released, was taken to a hospital and underwent an operation.

There was no immediate word on the man’s possible motives, where he came from or his condition in the hospital.

A car is pictured in front of a building in Heidelberg following the incident which left one man dead. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

Police and prosecutors said that there are no indications of any terrorist background and the man appears to have acted alone.

The man is now in a hospital in Heidelberg having been shot by police while being arrested, leaving him seriously injured, police said.

Regional newspaper Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung said he was not fit to be questioned, Reuters reported.

The newspaper said the suspect had stopped at a red traffic light and when it turned green put his foot down before hitting the group of people at high speed and smashing into a pillar.