It was in the late morning of June 8, 2021 when a state of emergency prevailed at the Anita Augsburg Vocational School: Dozens of patrol cars were on duty and the school on Brienner Straße was evacuated. Students barricaded the door to their classroom with tables from the inside. At around 11:20 a.m., a young, conspicuously dressed woman entered the building. She was wearing a wig, yellow latex gloves, large sunglasses and, despite the early summer temperatures, was wearing a winter jacket. She was also holding a kitchen knife.
Due to corona measures, only a few students were in the building. The first person she met in a hallway was Norman L. (name changed). When he spoke to the strangely dressed woman, she raised her knife and showed it to him. Norman L. got scared. “I knew that if I did something stupid, something would go wrong,” said the 22-year-old on Thursday before the Munich I Regional Court. He walked backwards into his classroom and informed his teacher. She alerted the police.
The young woman who terrified the students last summer is Nathalie N., 26 years old and a hairdresser. She used to go to the Anita Augsburg Vocational School herself. According to doctors, the 26-year-old suffered from “undifferentiated schizophrenia” on June 8 and was probably innocent. Since she probably cannot be held criminally responsible, the proceedings before the 12th Criminal Chamber are about her being placed in a closed psychiatric clinic.
After meeting Norman L., Nathalie N. ran into a lounge where three schoolgirls were sitting. One of them was Jasmine F. (name changed). She saw the knife right away, she said during her interrogation in court. At first she thought of a “graduation prank” because of Nathalie N.’s “outfit”. But the 22-year-old quickly realized that it was not a prank. Nathalie N. left the lounge quickly and went to a class in which ten students were studying with their teacher for an upcoming exam.
When the teacher asked N. why she was holding a knife, she is said to have replied: “What do you think I intend to do with the knife?” The students, like their teacher, felt “massively threatened,” says the application for the accommodation of Nathalie N. “Thank God”, however, a classmate dared to approach the 26-year-old from behind and her take away the knife, said a witness. Another student then threw N. to the ground.
All three witnesses heard by the court explain that Nathalie N. appeared to them as if they were either under the influence of drugs or had “delusions”. According to the witnesses, the 26-year-old gave them the impression that she was “remote controlled” or “off track”. Nathalie N. said nothing about the allegations at the start of the trial. According to her lawyer Birgit Schwerdt, the 26-year-old “heard voices that inspired her thoughts” at the time of the crime. Her client could not remember the incident. The process is ongoing.