Three killed, five seriously injured in Germany knife attack
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[June 26, 2021]
By Tilman Blashofer and Alexander Hübner
WUERZBURG, Germany (Reuters) -Three people
were killed and five seriously injured in a knife attack in southern
Germany on Friday by a 24-year-old Somali immigrant, described by
officials as having been placed under compulsory psychiatric treatment
in recent days.
Police stopped and arrested the attacker in the town of Wuerzburg by
firing a bullet through his thigh. They said his injuries were not
life-threatening.
"Three are dead and five very seriously injured," regional Interior
Minister Joachim Herrmann said after arriving on the scene. "With the
most seriously injured we are not sure they will survive."
The man had lived in Wuerzburg since 2015, the year Germany opened its
borders to more than a million migrants and refugees fleeing war and
poverty. His life was not in danger and he was being questioned by
police in hospital, Herrmann said.
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"His condition had been noticed in recent months, including violent
tendencies, and a few days ago he was put into compulsory psychiatric
treatment," Herrmann said.
Later, he told public television that, according to one witness, the
suspect had called "Allahu akbar", an Arabic phrase meaning "God is
great" and often associated with acts of Islamist terrorism before
starting his spree.
"That suggests a possible Islamist motive, and that is also part of the
investigation," he added.
Among the three dead was a young boy and one of his parents, Main Post
newspaper said.
As is standard practice in Germany, police did not release the name of
the suspect.
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![](../images/062621pics/news_o47.jpg)
German police in action in the German town of Wuerzburg, Germany,
June 25, 2021, before they arrested a suspect after a "major
operation" in which parts of the city center were sealed off and
local media had earlier reported multiple stabbings. REUTERS/Thomas
Obermeier/Main-Post
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Police said there was no indication that there were
any other attackers, and that the situation was now under control.
Videos posted on social media showed a seemingly barefoot man
holding a long knife being warded off by other men with chairs until
police arrived. Another video appeared to show blood on the ground.
The videos matched the reported location of the attacks on and
around Wuerzburg's central Barbarossaplatz, though it was not
immediately possible to confirm when they had been made.
Reuters footage from the scene showed dozens of police and emergency
vehicles in attendance.
Wuerzburg, an ancient city of 130,000 people some 100 km (62 miles)
south-east of Frankfurt, was five years ago the scene of a knife
attack on a train by a 17-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker in which
five people were injured, two seriously.
(Reporting by Alexander Huebner in Munich and Reuters TV, writing by
Thomas EscrittEditing by Scot W. Stevenson, Frances Kerry, Raissa
Kasolowsky and Jonathan Oatis)
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