Berlin shooting: Several injured in Kreuzberg

Video caption, Officers are investigating the shooting which took place early on Saturday

Four people have been seriously injured after a shooting in Berlin in the early hours of Saturday, police say.

Heavily armed police officers were deployed to the scene in the Kreuzberg district, German media report.

The four injured were aged between 30 and 42. One man was pulled from the Landwehr canal, reportedly with a gunshot wound to the leg.

The city's attorney general said the incident could have been carried out by members of rival organised crime gangs.

A murder investigation team has taken over the investigation.

Image source, AFP

Image caption, This entrance to a building in Kreuzberg had bullet damage

According to a police statement, residents alerted authorities shortly before 04:00 local time (03:00 GMT) after hearing gunfire. The injured - all men - were taken to hospital.

Photographs from the scene show gunshot damage to a doorway of a building opposite the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Police said they did not know how many perpetrators might be involved.

Image source, EPA

Image caption, Forensic investigators were at the crime scene on Saturday morning