San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Authorities remain puzzled over motive for German knife attack
WUERZBURG, Germany — The suspect in a knife attack that left three women dead was ordered kept in custody Saturday on suspicion of murder, while authorities puzzled over a possible motive, examining his mental health and seeking to determine whether he was radicalized.
The attack started late Friday afternoon when the suspect walked into a store in Wuerzburg, went to the household goods department and asked a saleswoman where the knives were, regional police chief Gerhard Kallert said. He then grabbed a knife and fatally stabbed three women in the store, before continuing to attack people outside. Six people, most of them women, were seriously injured, and one remained in a life-threatening condition Saturday.
The 24-year-old Somali was then stopped with a shot to the leg by police and arrested.
On Saturday, he was brought before a judge, who ordered him held in jail pending a possible indictment on suspicion of three counts of murder, six of attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm, and another of bodily harm.
The man arrived in Germany in May 2015 and was granted “subsidiary protection,” a status that falls short of full asylum. He had been in Wuerzburg since 2019 and was living in a homeless shelter.
Officials said he didn’t have a criminal record, but there were two incidents earlier this year that resulted in him being sent briefly to a psychiatric hospital.
Authorities also were looking at the possibility of the man having been radicalized as an Islamic extremist. Kallert said a store detective and police officers reported hearing the suspect say “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great.”
Bavaria’s top security official, Joachim Herrmann, said that “further cautious indications” in that direction emerged from his questioning, without elaborating. Material with “hate messages” also was found but has yet to be evaluated, police said.