The man at the centre of the Ede café hostage-taking was known to the police and had a previous conviction for threatening behaviour dating from last year, officials confirmed on Saturday afternoon.

But public prosecution department spokeswoman Marthyne Kunst declined to give any further details or to say if there was a relationship between Saturday morning’s incident and the previous case.

“We are still investigating the motive and can’t say any more about it,” she told reporters at a press conference.

The hostage-taking in the centre of Ede ended just before 12.30 pm after a man in a balaclava left the café with his hands in the air, where he was ordered to kneel down and was then handcuffed by police.

The man left the bar shortly after releasing his fourth hostage. Three others – two women and a man wearing jackets with the café logo – were released about an hour previously.

The centre of the Gelderland town was sealed off by police early on Saturday morning after the man took an unknown number of people hostage in the Petticoat café.

Police said they had begun negotiations with the man as soon as they were made aware of the situation, but did not say how they had been told.

The man had flashed knives at the hostages and “there was talk of explosives”, leading to the heavy police presence, local police chief Anne Jan Oosterheert told the press conference.

A rucksack the man was carrying was later found by police not to contain explosives, as had been feared.

Ede mayor René Verhulst has urged people not to distribute films and photos of the incident on social media, out of respect to the four hostages.

“They have the right to rest and privacy,” he said. “The police would also like to be able to do their jobs properly.”