Typically, mass killings occur with guns. It’s rare to see a mass killing occur with a knife, but this was the narrative in Germany on Friday. Three people were killed in a knife attack in the city of Wurzburg, Bavaria.
Wurzburg is located 74.5 miles east of Frankfurt. Wurzburg is a quiet city, but this was not the case on Friday.
Details of the Knife Attack
The attacker was able to stab eight people seriously. Three died on the scene, and five others are in critical condition. It’s believed that there will be more deaths from this group because of the severity of the wounds.
The data was reported by the Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann. Many others sustained less severe injuries as they fled the scene. The suspected attacker was arrested and is in custody.
Police do not believe that there was a second attacker. However, they are not ruling this out before the investigation. The police have been informing residents of the attack through Twitter.
They have urged people to return to normalcy with the suspected killer in jail. Nevertheless, it’s not easy to shake an event like this in any community.
The latest Tweet from the police stated, “There is no indication of a second suspect. There is no danger to the population.”
Timeline from the Attack
The attack occurred on Friday afternoon in the city center called Barbarossaplatz. Local media were the first to report the incident as police fled to the scene. The authorities were alerted at 5:00 PM.
The attacker proceeded on a stabbing rampage until police arrived on the scene. The suspect was shot in the leg by police, but it was not life-threatening. With the suspect in custody, investigators need to discover the motive behind the attack.
Details of the Killer
Some details regarding the suspect were released through Twitter by the police. The suspect is a 24-year-old man who is from Somalia. He has lived in Wurzburg since 2015, and he has been receiving psychiatric care.
Police are attempting to figure out a motive behind the attack, and his medical team will probably be able to give a good indication. In the past few months, the man has been labeled as a risk of violence.
After a brief research period, the police have identified that the main does seem suspect to Islamic extremism. However, they have not stated that this was his reasoning for the stabbing rampage.
A spokesperson for the police stated, “Naturally, we need to compile all the evidence that we can, but there is circumstantial evidence that this could have been an Islamist attack.”
Witnesses have stated that the man was screaming Allahu Akbar, which means God is great as he committed the murders. Allahu Akbar is a common Islamic phrase.
The police have told citizens not to share videos of the attack on social media as a means of respect for the families who lost their loved ones. However, there are plenty of videos circulating the internet which show the gruesome attack in the streets of Wurzburg.
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