Germany's Hamburg airport closed with armed driver in standoff with police

The Hamburg Airport in Germany canceled all flights Saturday night as authorities responded to an armed man who drove his vehicle onto the tarmac and parked near a plane.

The man fired at least one shot into the air, Sandra Levgrün, a spokesperson for the Hamburg Police Department, said in an interview posted on social media.

No injuries had been reported, Levgrün said.

Police said they were trying to contact the driver of the vehicle, who they said was accompanied by a child passenger, adding that they believed the situation concerned a "custody dispute."

Two small fires were observed on the tarmac early on, and authorities were trying to determine if they were set by the man.

A police spokesperson, Thilo Marxsen, said officers on the ground were seeking a Turkish translator to communicate with the man as the standoff stretched past midnight in Hamburg.

Passengers aboard the plane near the vehicle were evacuated, police said, and passengers aboard other planes on the tarmac were also being evacuated.

Video posted on social media showed heavily armed officers escorting a group of passengers across the tarmac to a bus.

They were being evacuated to a nearby hotel, police said.

Airport spokesperson Katja Bromm said in an email that police responded to the airport at 8:24 p.m. local time, prompting it to halt takeoffs and landings.

Twenty-seven flights were canceled, she said, affecting roughly 3,200 passengers.