Switzerland: three 5-year-old children injured, including one seriously, by a man during a stabbing attack

Children targeted by attack in Switzerland. Three 5-year-old minors were injured, one seriously, by a man carrying a bladed weapon, this Tuesday in a residential area north of Zurich, municipal police announced.

The assailant, a Chinese national, attacked the children shortly after noon, according to police. A daycare employee who accompanied the victims immediately reacted and managed to subdue the 23-year-old attacker with the help of a man present on the scene, until the police arrived.

The three victims, the “seriously injured” boy and the two other “less seriously injured” boys received first aid on the spot before being transported to hospital.

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Unknown motives

The suspect, taken to the police station, was being questioned on Tuesday afternoon, said police spokeswoman Judith Höhle. “We cannot yet give details on the motivations”she added. At the end of the day, several streets in the neighborhood were still cordoned off by police cordons, noted an AFP journalist. But the danger has passed, the police stressed.

According to the first elements of the investigation, the group was on its way to an activity center and it was at that time that the young man “attacked the children with knives”.

The investigation is being carried out by the Zurich cantonal police and the public prosecutor’s office. Psychological support teams were made available.