© Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters /File photoA police vehicle patrols at the main square and in front of the central railway station in Cologne.
The incident took place on Flandrische Street on Monday morning, Koelner Express newspaper reported. When police arrived at the scene, they determined there had been a knife attack and shooting.
Two suspects are now on the run, the paper said.
According to witness accounts cited by Koelner Express, there were three or four people in the street having an argument with the victim before they attacked him with a knife or knives.
When the victim tried to escape in his Mercedes, the attackers began shooting at him, but the bullets only hit the car, according to the witnesses.
Police said the car was riddled with bullets when the officers arrived at the scene.
The victim, a 34-year-old male, received stab wounds and head injuries and was taken to hospital, police and prosecutors said.
Comment: As Mr. Walton further writes, he feels it was only by virtue of his demographic (white male) that he survived the terrifying encounter at all: