Status: 05/13/2022 4:15 p.m
A man stabbed passengers with a knife on a train near Aachen, injuring at least five people. The suspect was arrested. Interior Minister Reul speaks of an amok act.
On a regional train in North Rhine-Westphalia, a man stabbed fellow passengers with a knife, injuring four people and himself. According to previous knowledge, the 31-year-old attacked passengers “indiscriminately and arbitrarily” with a knife, said Interior Minister Herbert Reul in Düsseldorf. “The victim and the perpetrator were not related in any way,” he said. An Islamist background will be checked. “According to everything we know so far, we have to assume that this was an amok attack,” said the CDU politician.
perpetrator was overpowered
According to the information, the attack occurred in the morning on a regional train to Aachen, shortly after it had left Herzogenrath station. A 60-year-old federal police officer, who happened to be on the train, managed to overpower the attacker with the help of two other passengers. There were about 270 passengers on the train.
After the knife attack on a train near Aachen: police officers lead the alleged perpetrator away. According to Interior Minister Reul, he is said to have attacked passengers “indiscriminately” with a knife.
Image: dpa
The suspect was listed as an “Islamist test case” in 2017
The alleged perpetrator is a 31-year-old man from North Rhine-Westphalia who was born in Iraq. In 2017, he was listed as a so-called Islamist test case, and since then there have been “no abnormalities,” said Reul. However, the man appeared under different names.
Several of the injured suffered cuts on their hands and faces, Reul said. Four injured were taken to a hospital. The perpetrator, who was initially taken into custody, was injured and later hospitalized.