Berlin [Germany], January 23 (HBTV): Two people, including a toddler, were killed, and three others sustained injuries in a brutal knife attack in a park in Aschaffenburg, southern Germany, The Washington Post reported.
The deceased include a 2-year-old boy of Moroccan origin and a 41-year-old German man. Three others, including a 72-year-old German man, a 59-year-old German woman, and a 2-year-old Syrian girl, were also injured, police confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.
Authorities stated that the suspect, a 28-year-old Afghan man, was arrested shortly after the attack. The motive behind the stabbing remains unclear, and police are working closely with the public prosecutor's office to determine a motive.
Visiting Aschaffenburg late Wednesday afternoon, Bavaria's interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, said the suspect had 'suddenly and deliberately' targeted a child in a day-care group. The slain man was reportedly a passerby who intervened to protect the children. The 59-year-old injured woman is a caregiver with the group, police said in the statement.
Herrmann added that 'at the moment, the suspicion is very strong that he obviously has mental illnesses,' noting that the search of the suspect's living quarters found no evidence of an Islamist motive. The suspect was known to police for violent crimes and had received psychiatric treatment, but had been released each time.
The suspect sought asylum after entering Germany in mid-November 2022 but voluntarily announced his departure in writing last month. His asylum procedure was discontinued, and he was asked to leave the country. He is still receiving psychiatric care.
This attack comes as Germany remains on high alert following a deadly incident at a Christmas market in Magdeburg last month, where six people were killed and nearly 300 injured after a driver rammed his car into a crowd. The suspect, a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, was arrested and found to have extreme anti-Islamic views.
Ahead of Germany's election on February 23, the attack has intensified discussions on migration policy, which 37 percent of German voters identify as the most important issue in polls, according to The Washington Post. (ANI)