Fatal attack in Würzburg: Investigators are looking for the motive

Three people were killed in a knife attack in Würzburg – the attacker seriously injured five people. Now the police are trying to find out the background to the crime. The horror at the incident is great.

After the fatal knife attack in Würzburg, the focus is now on the alleged perpetrator’s motif. Even at night, the police said they were there with numerous emergency services to investigate the background and the course of the crime.

It is still unclear why the 24-year-old killed three people with a knife in the city center late on Friday afternoon and seriously injured at least five others. At least two should be in mortal danger. It is possible that the attacker, who was shot and arrested after the crime, is mentally ill. But also an Islamist motive of the attacker is examined according to the investigators. The perpetrator and the victim should not have known each other.

Probably a child among the injured

Police also used a helicopter late on Friday evening. The police allayed fears that the attacker might have had accomplices. The helicopter supported the investigation. “We’re not looking for more people,” she wrote on Twitter. At first, she did not provide any specific information about the number of injured persons.

The “Main Post” reported that ten people were injured. The police did not want to confirm this number at first. She pointed out, if necessary, to provide information at a press conference. A little boy is said to be among the injured, his father is said to be dead. The Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said, according to the “Main Post”, that the majority of the victims were women, and that the perpetrators had chosen them at random.

Police shot attackers

According to information from BR reporter Alexander von Ammon, the man near the central Würzburg Barbarossa Square attacked several people with a knife. The police stopped the alleged perpetrator with a targeted shot after passers-by showed them the way. The 24-year-old was admitted to hospital with a thigh bullet. According to the police, he also gave brief information there. What exactly he said was initially unclear.

Bavaria’s Interior Minister Herman said citizen intervention may also have helped prevent further casualties. When classifying the bloody act, CSU politician Herrmann did not rule out an Islamist attack. “In any case, there is evidence that it could be an Islamist attack,” he told the dpa news agency. According to him, a witness stated that the suspect had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (German: God is great) during the crime.

According to the police, the suspect had already been violent and mentally exposed in recent months. Only a few days ago he was admitted to psychiatric treatment, said Herrmann. According to police, the man last lived in a homeless shelter.

“Pointless and hideous”

CDU chief Armin Laschet wrote on Twitter that he sympathized with the families of the dead and hoped for a speedy recovery of the injured. “My great respect goes to the brave citizens who stepped in quickly.”

FDP leader Christian Linder and Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock from the Greens also remembered the victims and their relatives. SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans described the act on Twitter as pointless and disgusting. His deepest condolences go out to the victims and their families.