At least two people have been killed and several others have been injured after a car rammed into pedestrians in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, a local official said Monday.

Mannheim police said they had arrested a suspect after launching a large-scale manhunt in the city center shortly after midday local time (6 a.m. ET).

Mikla Cela, a worker at a restaurant in the city center, told CNN that he saw a black car drive by at high speed. He said he later heard several people screaming and saw a man with a white jacket lying on the floor.

Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and likely Germany’s next chancellor, said he was “shocked” by Monday’s incident, as well as several other “terrible acts” that have rocked the country in recent months.

“Germany must become a safe country again. We will work towards this with the utmost determination,” Merz said.

Mannheim University Hospital said that three of the injured people it has received are receiving urgent acute care, including a child.

Police have not yet said how many people were wounded. Thomas Strobl, interior minister for Baden-Wurttemberg state, confirmed that two people had been killed and several others “seriously injured.”

Strobl said the suspect is thought to be a 40-year-old German national from Rhineland-Palatinate state, which borders Baden-Wurttemberg. “There are currently no indications of any other suspects,” he said.

Ferry Overdevest, the owner of a flower store in central Mannheim, told CNN that around 30 people had sought shelter in his shop and that ambulances were on the streets outside.

Germany has been rocked by a string of deadly car ramming attacks in recent months. Police have not yet said whether Monday’s incident was a deliberate attack.

In December, a vehicle plowed into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing six people, including a 9-year-old boy. The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who had lived in Germany for more than a decade and worked to help Saudis leave his home country. Social media posts showed he was a fervent critic of Islam.

In February, a person drove a Mini Cooper into demonstrators in Munich, killing a mother and her child and injuring more than 30 others. The suspect is a 24-year-old Afghan man.

That attack came on the eve of the Munich Security Conference and just days before the country’s federal election, where concerns over immigration and security helped propel the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to second place.

Monday’s incident comes as Germany celebrates “Rose Monday,” a carnival held before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

German police were already on high alert ahead of the carnival celebrations, but the incident in Mannheim has prompted some forces to take additional measures. Police in Ulm, a city southeast of Mannheim, said they have “noticeably increased” their presence around carnival events.

(Source: CNN)