Status: 01/27/2023 07:36 a.m
The man who attacked other passengers with a knife on a regional train from Kiel to Hamburg on Wednesday is now in custody. A 17-year-old and her 19-year-old friend died in the act. Five other people were injured, some of them critically.
On Thursday afternoon, the 33-year-old Ibrahim A. was brought before the magistrate at the Itzehoe district court (Steinburg district). “We are conducting proceedings for two treacherous murders and four cases of attempted manslaughter,” confirmed senior public prosecutor Peter Müller-Rackow. An arrest warrant was issued because of the seriousness of the allegation and the suspect’s risk of absconding. According to Müller-Rackow, the man was taken to Itzehoe prison on remand.
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Two dead and five injured
A 17-year-old girl and her 19-year-old friend died after the attack near Brokstedt. According to Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU), the two fatalities went to school in Neumünster. “Two young people have lost their lives and five other people have been injured. This affects me deeply,” said Interior Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack (CDU) on Thursday afternoon at a press conference in Kiel. According to the minister, two of the five injured were critically injured, the other three seriously. Three people are currently in the hospital.
The 19-year-old fatality is said to be a trainee at DB vehicle maintenance, who was also a member of the railway and transport union (EVG) North. The EVG announced this on Facebook. According to this, another colleague was among the seriously injured. A Malteser crisis intervention team supported the employees on Thursday due to a mental state of emergency.
There will be a memorial service at 5 p.m. today in Brokstedt Church. People can light candles and commemorate the victims. Already on Thursday evening about 100 people spontaneously gathered at the station in Brokstedt to mourn. Many funeral flowers and candles were laid as a token of sympathy. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) also visited the track in question on Thursday afternoon to commemorate the victims of the bloody crime. In addition, Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister of Education Karin Prien (CDU) is going to Neumünster to the school where the two people died. The minister wants to talk to classmates and teachers about what happened.
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According to Sütterlin-Waack, the alleged perpetrator was also slightly injured when the police arrested him on Wednesday. The man is said not to have resisted. He was treated in a clinic. “There are still no results of an interrogation,” said the interior minister. Therefore, no statement can be made about possible motives. According to the public prosecutor’s office, a terrorist background can be ruled out.
VIDEO: Sütterlin-Waack the day after the crime in Brokstedt: “I have a lot of questions” (6 min)
A few hours before the crime, the man in Kiel had applied for a residence card from the authorities. He behaved completely inconspicuously, as City Councilor Christian Zierau announced. It is still unclear what exactly happened after the knife attack on the regional train.
Perpetrator had a criminal record, but not “enforceable obligation to leave the country”
According to current information from the interior minister, the perpetrator’s name is Ibrahim A. “He is a 33-year-old, stateless Palestinian,” Sütterlin-Waack continued. The man is said to have been registered in Kiel from July to November 2021, which is why he is also listed at the immigration office in Kiel. “There are no police criminal files on him in Schleswig-Holstein,” said the minister. However, the police had two reports – one for a dispute and one for shoplifting.
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However, since entering the country in 2014, the knife attacker has already committed a criminal offense in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg – among other things because of acts of violence. It was not until January 19, 2023 that he was released from custody in the Hamburg JVA Billwerder. He was there for dangerous bodily harm, the minister said.
According to Katja Ralfs from the immigration department of the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Social Affairs, deporting the man was out of the question – the person concerned should have been “enforceably obliged to leave the country”. According to the current status, however, this was not the case, Ralfs continued.
Knife attack on homeless people
The previous crime is 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 judgment was not yet final. Since the man had already been in custody for a year, the Hamburg Regional Court decided last week to release him. It was his first conviction.
According to the Hamburg authority for justice and consumer protection, A. became conspicuous during detention, which is why psychiatric care took place throughout. At the end of the detention there was an assessment by a psychiatrist and that was: No danger to yourself or others. In addition, the JVA organized methadone treatment for him at short notice after his release. The defendant’s lawyer describes it as the 33-year-old’s condition continued to deteriorate during his detention, especially mentally – and he took more and more drugs and probably hallucinated in some cases.
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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.
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 Günther. The CDU politician expressed his condolences to the victims’ families on Wednesday evening. “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.
The state parliament session on Thursday was also 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 Sütterlin-Waack 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.
When asked whether the crime could not have been prevented, Sütterlin-Waack 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 whether there still has 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.”
Investigations are ongoing – witnesses and help lines set up
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. There is also a help line on (0800) 000 75 54.
1/27/2023 7:52 am
Correction note: In a previous version of this text, we erroneously wrote that the 19-year-old fatality was a trainee from the North Railway and Transport Union (EVG). He was a trainee at DB vehicle maintenance and a member of the railway and transport union (EVG) North. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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