By Ayhan Simsek 

BERLIN

German authorities said on Monday that they could not rule out terrorism as a possible motive for today’s hostage-taking incident in Cologne Central Station. 

The 55-year-old suspect was shot during a rescue operation and hospitalized in critical condition, Police Vice President Miriam Brauns told a news conference in Cologne. 

“We are investigating in all directions, and not ruling out a possible terror attack,” Brauns said. 

The woman who was held hostage by the suspect for almost two hours at a pharmacy inside Cologne’s main railway station sustained light injuries. 

A 14-year-old girl was also injured when the suspect threw a Molotov cocktail inside a nearby McDonald's restaurant, before taking the other woman hostage.

Klaus Rueschenschmidt, head of operations at the police department, said several witnesses claimed that the suspect told them he was a member of the terrorist group Daesh, and threatened to burn people at the restaurant unless his demands were met. 

The police had found an ID document belonging to a Syrian refugee in the pharmacy, and believed that it belonged to the perpetrator.