The attack, the motives of which are not known at this stage, occurred in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, “around 11:45 a.m. in the Schöntal park, causing the death of two people”, a 41-year-old man and a 2-year-old boy, the police said on his X account.
The suspect arrested is a 28-year-old Afghan, she added. According to the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, he “is considered to suffer from mental disorders and has already undergone treatment on several occasions”.
The suspect, a 28-year-old Afghan, was apprehended by German law enforcement near the park.
RALF HETTLER / AFP
He attacked a group of children accompanied by two educators, adds the Bavarian daily. The killed man allegedly intervened. Two other “seriously injured” people are currently being treated in hospital.
“Inconceivable act”
The investigation is taking place “at a rapid pace,” police said, refusing to “speculate” on the motives of the attack. The authorities have launched a call for witnesses. “Today is a terrible day for all of Bavaria,” reacted the head of the regional government, the conservative Markus Söder on X. “The circumstances of this inconceivable act must be fully clarified,” he wrote. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she hoped the investigation “will help clarify the context of this terrible act of violence.”
The suspect was arrested near the scene of the tragedy, and his alleged weapon seized. The park was evacuated and the premises remain cordoned off by the police. Due to police intervention, Deutsche Bahn mainline traffic is currently disrupted.
According to local media, the Schöntal park was particularly monitored by the police after several incidents in recent months, thefts and bodily injuries in the drug scene, which explains why the man was quickly arrested.
-Several attacks in recent months
Germany has been rocked by several deadly attacks in recent months. Security issues are very present in the campaign for the legislative elections on February 23.
At the end of December, the Christmas market in Magdeburg (center) was the target of a man, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, who drove a powerful car into the crowd, killing six people and injuring some 300.
The country was also shocked by an attack in Solingen (west) where the alleged perpetrator, a Syrian suspected of links with the Islamic State (IS) organization, stabbed three people to death during local festivities at the end of August
A few days later, a 32-year-old woman stabbed several people on a bus in Siegen, western Germany, and injured five people.
And in June, a knife attack targeting an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim (west) left one dead, a young police officer who had intervened. The alleged attacker was an Afghan national.
