A man was shot and killed by German police in the state of Baden-Württemberg on New Year’s Eve after stealing an excavator and going on a violent rampage with the vehicle.

Three police officers, two male and one female, were injured during a wild scene in the district of Main-Tauber in central Germany on Tuesday in which a 38-year-old man stole an excavator from a construction company in the town of Grünsfeld.

The man is said to have used the vehicle to destroy the inventory at the business before driving it a few kilometres to the town of Tauberbischofsheim, during which he damaged several police cars and other vehicles, Welt reports.