Status: 01/26/2023 2:02 p.m
On Wednesday afternoon, a man attacked other passengers on a train from Kiel to Hamburg with a knife. According to new information from Interior Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack, a 17-year-old and her 19-year-old friend died. From 2 p.m., the Minister of the Interior and the police will provide information on the current status of the investigation.
In the morning, the minister had given the girl’s age as 16. According to the emergency services, the two victims died on the spot from their severe stab wounds. In addition, the CDU minister also updated the number of injuries in the special session of the state parliament on Thursday. Accordingly, five people and the perpetrator himself were injured. Initially, seven were injured. Three people are still in the hospital, two of whom have been operated on, said Sütterlin-Waack. Two other travelers have already been released from the hospital. The 33-year-old suspect was also slightly injured. According to information from the Itzehoe police department, he had only been released from custody in Hamburg’s Billwerder prison a few days ago. According to the Itzehoe police department, he had been held there because of an assault.
Knife attack on homeless people
According to information from the mirror, the act is also said to have been a knife attack. In January 2022, the man seriously injured another man with a knife in front of a food distribution for the homeless. His verdict was not yet final, but since the man had already been in prison for a year, the Hamburg Regional Court decided to release him. It was the first conviction.
Further information
According to dpa information, the man was registered in Euskirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia for several years and was repeatedly conspicuous for various criminal offenses. According to senior public prosecutor Carsten Ohlrogge, it was, among other things, a narcotics offense, physical injury and the aforesaid serious physical injury, but he was not an intensive offender. According to Ohlrogge, he was not a sex offender, as various media reported. The alleged perpetrator is said to be a stateless Palestinian.
Mourning flags arranged in Schleswig-Holstein
After the fatal knife attack on the regional train from Kiel to Hamburg, the Schleswig-Holstein state government ordered mourning flags to be displayed. “Schleswig-Holstein is mourning. It’s a terrible day. It’s terrible what happened there,” said Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU). The prime minister expressed his condolences to the families of the victims last night. “My thoughts and prayers are with the people and their families in this really difficult situation,” he said. Now it should be cleared up as soon as possible.
VIDEO: Sütterlin-Waack comments on the victims of the knife attack (1 min)
Today’s state parliament session was marked by the attack. Eka von Kalben (Greens), Vice President of the State Parliament, gave a speech, followed by a minute’s silence. Kalben also emphasized that the thoughts are with the victims and their families. She also expressed her respect for the first responders who had opposed the perpetrator. “Their courage and determination, their selflessness and their level-headedness deserve the utmost respect,” she said. Schleswig-Holstein’s Interior Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack (CDU) also thanked all the helpers and emergency services. In Brokstedt, the willingness to help was great: helpers quickly prepared a room in the community center. There, people who had been on the train were given blankets and warm drinks
Press conference on Brokstedt’s knife attack at 2 p.m
Sütterlin-Waack (CDU) wants to inform about the current status of the investigation together with the head of the Itzehoe police department, Frank Matthiesen, at around 2 p.m. today. NDR.de/sh will broadcast this press conference live.
The perpetrator will be brought before the magistrate today
The alleged perpetrator was first taken to a hospital after the arrest in Brokstedt, but according to the police is no longer receiving medical treatment, but in custody. Chief Public Prosecutor Peter Müller-Rackow said in the morning that the man would be brought before the magistrate before the Itzehoe District Court today. Nothing is known about the motive for the crime, but according to the public prosecutor’s office, a terrorist background can be ruled out.
120 passengers during train knife attack
There were 120 people on the train during the attack, one of them was Christoph B. “I was in first class and the people sitting with me all ran out. Then I ran out. And there were traces of blood everywhere, the along the whole train,” he told NDR Schleswig-Holstein on Wednesday. Michael K. was called by his daughter who was on the train. “My daughter called me at home and wrote that they had to get off the train because someone ran amok and stabbed people indiscriminately,” he said.
Investigations are ongoing – witnesses and help lines set up
Some passengers alerted the police with their cell phones, while other passengers held the suspected attacker on the train. He was later arrested by the police in Brokstedt. According to the police, there was no video surveillance in the regional train. The police are therefore asking all passengers who have not yet spoken to the investigators, as well as other witnesses, to call 04821/602 2002. A help line has also been set up on 0800 / 000 75 54.
When asked whether the act could not have been prevented, Schleswig-Holstein’s interior minister said: “Of course, that is also a question that is decided within the framework of the judiciary. And there are very competent people who think about exactly whether there still needs to be care after imprisonment. And obviously in this case they said: He has served his sentence. That’s how it is in our legal system.”
Further information
