Four people were injured after shots were fired outside a court building in the northwestern German city of Bielefeld.

Four people were injured, one of them critically, after three shots were fired outside a court building in the northwestern German city of Bielefeld.

Two suspects have been arrested at the scene, according to a press release by the Bielefeld police.

A third person, whose possible connection to the shooting was unclear, was thought to be holed up in a building near the incident, but police said that was not the case. 

According to the local media reports, the targets of the shooting were relatives of a defendant in a trial that was being heard inside the court on Wednesday.

A court spokesperson said the shots were fired shortly after the end of a hearing in the trial of two men over the death of Besar Nimani, a former professional boxer. 

The German dpa news agency, citing police sources, also reported that the incident was being treated as a targeted attack on people linked to the case.

In the case, two men are accused of having fired 16 shots at Nimani, killing him as he left a barber shop on the city’s high street.

The trial is taking place under tight security, with police guarding the court building and visitors, witnesses and reporters undergoing searches before entering.