this woman was a hero

A 23-year-old man attacked three children with knives in Zurich on Tuesday, sometimes seriously injuring them. Many questions remain unanswered. In the neighborhood, it’s a shock.

Reto Wattenhofer / ch media

The door opens and a little girl looks into space, anxious. For a moment, the horror that occurred on that gray and damp day in the Oerlikon district of Zurich comes to life. Psychologists and a care team have been caring for the children and their parents for hours behind the opaque doors of the premises of the Intercantonal High School of Curative Pedagogy.

Everyone tries to understand what happened earlier in the day, suddenly turning their daily lives upside down. Why a man deliberately tried to kill their children. Why he stabbed and injured three of them.

Those who passed by Berninaplatz that afternoon, unaware of what had happened, were surprised by the massive police deployment. The neighborhood is largely cordoned off and seems to be drowning in an ocean of fluorescent colors. Everywhere there are demarcation tapes, intervention force vans and police officers armed to the teeth. Specialists from the Zurich Forensic Institute and the Institute of Forensic Medicine are taking clues.

An act of violence that shakes a neighborhood

Residents of the neighborhood can only go to their homes accompanied by officials. Many of those who live here witnessed the scene. “I heard children screaming, then the police arrived in large numbers,” said a woman at the scene. The father of a six-year-old child, still under surveillance by the authorities, also testifies.

It’s shortly before noon this Tuesday. A group of toddlers walk from the nearby Gubel school to the Zurich city daycare, located behind the Bernina City shopping center. The lessons are over, now it’s time for lunch and afternoon support. So it’s dinner time. On the menu, the “hit of the day”: Gnocchi au gratin with pumpkin.

But the meal will not be served right away. Before the group reaches the daycare, a man suddenly attacks several children with knives on Berninastrasse. According to local witnesses, the children started screaming in fear. The man carried a knife, spoke English and had a piece of paper on him. He injured three five-year-old boys. One of them is seriously affected, the other two moderately. After receiving first medical treatment, they are taken to hospital. Police do not specify whether the life of the seriously injured boy is in danger.

Motif unknown

However, the worst could have been avoided. Perhaps thanks to the intervention of the daycare director, despite the assailant’s knife. Thanks to his courage, she manages, with the help of a passerby, to subdue the attacker. They hold him until the police arrive. Images taken by local residents show a chubby man, dressed in a black raincoat and white sweatpants, lying on the ground, being handcuffed by plainclothes officers. He allows himself to be arrested without resistance and will be questioned later.

????To learn more about the attacker????

If the sequence of events is relatively clear, their circumstances remain more obscure. What we do know is that the alleged perpetrator is a 23-year-old Chinese national. There, rumors circulated that he was studying at the University of Zurich. His motives are unknown at this time and the police are not commenting at this time. “It is still far too early to say whether the perpetrator had a connection to the daycare.” The Zurich cantonal police and the public prosecutor have opened an investigation. The director of the reception structure is also questioned.

On social media, we salute his courage. PLR municipal councilor and establishment director Filippo Leutenegger was also very impressed by this intervention. “This deserves the greatest respect and gratitude“, he declared to the Daily Gazette.

(French adaptation: Valentine Zenker)