Berlin shooting: Four people in hospital after Boxing Day gunfire in German capital

One victim pulled from nearby canal with gunshot wounds in what authorities say may have been organised crime hit

The shooting took place in the city’s Kreuzberg district. (AFP via Getty Images)

At least four men have been injured in a shooting in Berlin in the early hours of Boxing Day morning.

Heavily armed police officers were deployed to the city’s Kreuzberg district after gunfire rocked the area shortly before 4am, according to the Deutsche Welle website.

The incident occurred in Stresemannstrasse close to the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party – Germany’s second biggest political group – but there is no suggestion it was connected to either politics or terrorism.

The city's attorney general said the incident may have been connected to organised crime in the German capital.

One of the injured men was pulled from the Landwehr canal, with a gunshot wound to the leg. The other three were in a nearby driveway.

Emergency services initially treated all four at the scene but all of the men have now been moved to hospitals. According to the BBC, all four of the victims were aged between 30 and 42.

The unidentified assailants fled the scene and remain at large.