At least six people were seriously wounded in shootings at two sites in the German city of Hanau on Wednesday evening, police said.
The dpa news agency and local media initially reported that police said several people were killed.
Police later released a statement saying that at least one person was seriously injured in a first shooting around 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) and a dark vehicle was seen leaving the scene. Another shooting was reported at a second site, where at least five people were very seriously injured.
Police said fatalities were highly likely. It was not immediately clear who or what was behind the shootings.
Hanau is in southwestern Germany, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Frankfurt. It has about 100,000 inhabitants.
Regional public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk reported, without citing sources, that an attack took place in a hookah lounge in the center of the city. It said witnesses reported hearing eight or nine shots and seeing at least one person lying on the ground.
The perpetrator or perpetrators then apparently went to another part of the city, where shots were fired in another hookah lounge, the broadcaster said.