Two people were killed and 20 injured after a van plowed into a diners sitting outside a cafe in the western German university city of Muenster.
The vehicle crashed into people sitting in front of the famous Kiepenkerl in the historic downtown area on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
The driver, whose identity is not yet known, shot and killed himself immediately after the incident.
Police spokesman Peter Nuessmeyer said he could not confirm media reports that he was a middle-aged German man with psychological issues.
Another spokesman, Andreas Bode, told reporters it was too early to speculate about his motive but a German minister said the collision was “clearly not an accident”.
Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, added that the investigation was at an early stage but said “at the moment, nothing speaks for there being any Islamist background.”