On Friday afternoon, two masked men armed with pistols forced their way into the Sparkasse bank branch and fired several shots.

Three employees of the branch suffered injuries during the siege after being "physically attacked" by the intruders, according to police reports.

His accomplice remained at the scene while threatening police with his weapon, but a police officer managed to defuse the situation by shooting the robber in the leg. He was then taken to hospital under police guard.

The bag of money stolen from the bank was also recovered by police.

Two of the injured bank employees received treatment in hospital over the weekend, and a further co-worker who was unharmed is thought to have also sought treatment.

"It's not just about physical injuries, but also mental trauma," a police spokesman said.

Since the robbery on Friday local daily newspaper Neue Westfälische got hold of passers-by who witnessed how events unfolded.

Anja Vasvari, 47, was driving her taxi past the branch of the bank, when she realised that something wasn’t right.

When she saw the duo put on masks as they entered the building, she stopped and asked a delivery man on the street to call the police.

The man who was delivering packages further down the street, Gürkan Künkcü, 21, ended up even closer to the action. He drove his truck in front of the bank and stepped into the entrance.

"At first I couldn't believe it. As the glass doors opened, I caught a glimpse of one of the robbers, who was waving a gun around," said Künkcü to Neue Westfälische

The robber had an employee at gunpoint, and so Künkcü ran back outside and called the police.

Luckily it wasn’t then long before officers arrived to confront and catch the culprits.