The man entered the kindergarten soon after the day had started Some 30 children and their teachers have been freed unharmed after being held hostage for several hours at their kindergarten in Malaysia.
Police used tear gas before storming the compound in a suburb of Muar town in Johor state.The hostage-taker, reportedly armed with a hammer and machete, was injured and is now in custody, police say.
A similar incident last year prompted the government to issue safety advice to schools.
"We have ended the hostage taking. The children and teachers are safe. The hostage-taker armed with a hammer and machete has been taken to a local hospital," one police officer told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
Malaysia's Star newspaper reported that the hostage-taker had been shot and the children had been taken to hospital for a check-up.
Gun request According to the newspaper, police shot tear gas before entering the building at around 1545 (0745 GMT).
It followed several hours of negotiations with the hostage-taker, while heavily-armed troops from the elite Special Actions Forces and ambulances stood nearby.
The father of a five-year-old told AFP that he was informed of the incident at about 1000 and was told the man was armed with both a hammer and a knife.
Anxious parents gathered around the police cordon as negotiations with the hostage-taker continued.
Last year a man barged into a kindergarten with a hammer and attacked three children.
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