A 41-year-old man and a two-year-old boy were killed in a knife attack in a park in Aschaffenburg. According to police, two other people were seriously injured. A suspect was arrested, a 28-year-old Afghan, the police said.
WELT learned from security circles that the suspect was already known to the authorities. Accordingly, he had already committed crimes before, and there were also indications that the man was mentally ill.
“I’m tired of it,” says Scholz
“I’m tired of such acts of violence happening here every few weeks. About perpetrators who actually came to us to find protection here,” said Scholz in an initial reaction on Wednesday.
“The authorities must work hard to find out why the attacker was still in Germany. Consequences must follow immediately from the knowledge gained – it is not enough to talk,” said the Chancellor. Misunderstood tolerance is completely inappropriate. Scholz also spoke of an “act of terrorism”. “Consequences must follow immediately from the knowledge gained – it is not enough to talk.”
According to information from Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), the alleged perpetrator explicitly targeted a kindergarten group. He attacked the children with a kitchen knife and fatally injured a boy of Moroccan descent. He also seriously injured a 61-year-old and a two-year-old girl who comes from Syria. After the crime, Herrmann traveled to Aschaffenburg and spoke to the public.
Herrmann: Suspect was required to leave the country
According to Herrmann, the suspect entered Germany in November 2022 and later applied for asylum. His case was concluded after the man himself announced to the authorities that he wanted to leave the country. According to Herrmann, the suspect was obliged to leave the country. He said he wanted to get the necessary papers from the Afghan Consulate General. He was then asked to leave the country by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
Children targeted
As the “Main-Echo” reports, teachers from a daycare center are said to have been out and about in the park with five small children. The attacker is said to have followed the group. When the teachers wanted to leave the park, the man is said to have attacked them. Apparently he specifically targeted the children.
A 41-year-old man is said to have walked between the attacking perpetrator and a child and paid for the attack with his life.
Police initially reported two arrests, but later announced that one person was in custody. In the case of a second person who was initially arrested, suspicion of a crime could be ruled out. According to police, it is a witness. There are no other suspects.
As Bayerischer Rundfunk reports, the police have classified parts of the park as a “dangerous place”. According to police chief Frank Eckhardt, these are primarily drug offenses, robbery and bodily harm within this drug environment.
“A terrible day for all of Bavaria”
In a post on X, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder expressed his condolences to the relatives and those affected. Söder called the act “cowardly and vile” and called for a “complete investigation”.
-Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) was also horrified by the crime and commented on the knife attack on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Green Party’s candidate for chancellor called the attack a “terrible assassination attempt.” Like Markus Söder, Habeck expressed his condolences to the relatives.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) was “deeply shocked” by the “terrible act of violence”. She expressed her “deepest condolences” to the bereaved.
Wagenknecht sees Scholz as partly to blame
BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht uses the attack as an opportunity to once again call for a change of course in refugee policy. “The fact that nothing happened after Mannheim and Solingen is primarily the failure of the Chancellor and his Interior Minister,” Wagenknecht told Politico. “That makes them politically responsible for every further terrible act.”
Union top candidate Friedrich Merz was also “deeply shocked”. “It can’t go on like this,” he explained. “We must and will restore law and order.” AfD federal leader and top candidate Alice Weidel said her thoughts were “with the relatives and the injured.” “Remigrate now,” she demanded.
Suspect is said to have asked passers-by for drugs
A man tells WELT TV that an acquaintance of his, apparently an eyewitness, was asked by the perpetrator for drugs and then set out to attack his victims.
Interior Minister Herrmann said no evidence of an Islamist motive was found in the suspect. “At the moment the suspicion is very much in the direction of his obvious mental illnesses.” Appropriate medication was found in the Afghan’s accommodation.
The police have activated their own witness hotline. Witnesses are also asked to upload video footage to a website or report relevant observations to 0800 0060322.
This article is continually updated.
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