Germany: Afghan Stabs 2 People to Death Including 2-Year-Old Boy in Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg

It has happened yet again. Today in Aschaffenburg, Germany, a 28-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker, who had been ordered to leave the country, went on a rampage in a park, attacking a group of kindergarten children with a knife. A 2-year-old Moroccan boy was stabbed to death as was an adult man who tried to intervene. Others were seriously wounded including a 2-year-old Syrian girl, according to news reports.

Are you reading this, Angela Merkel?

The below article from today's, Handelsblatt is translated by Fousesquawk. Note that in the interest of time, this is a partial translation. Time allowing, we will try to complete it, but these are the most pertinent details. (Update: The translation is now complete.)

Aschaffenburg: Attack on kindergarten group- Two dead, two seriously injured

Article from dpa (Deutsche Presse Agentur)

Caption: 

Caption: January 22, 2025, Bavaria, Aschaffenburg: Fire department and rescue services vehicles are parked near a crime scene. In an act of violence in a park, according to initial findings, several people were reportedly seriously injured by  a knife

A 28-year-old reportedly stabbed several people in a city park. An adult and a small boy died. Media report the initial details on the alleged perpetrator.

In an attack in a park in Franconian Aschaffenburg, two people were killed including a 2-year-old boy. A 41-year-old man also died. Two other people were seriously injured. 

A 28-year-old man with Afghan citizenship is suspected, who was arrested. According to the latest findings, a stabbing weapon was used. The crime scene and the park were largely cordoned off after the incident during the middle of the day.

The alleged perpetrator, according to information from the Bavarian Interior Minister, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), attacked a kindergarten group. The 28-year-old attacked the children with a kitchen knife and fatally injured a 2-year-old boy of Moroccan origin.

In addition, according to the up-to-date investigation, a 2-year-old girl from Syria was also injured. A 41-year-old passerby, who reportedly intervened, was fatally injured according to Herrmann. In addition, a 61-year old was injured and had to undergo surgery.

Interior minister: No indication of Islamist motive

According to Herrmann, no indication of an Islamist motive was found on the suspect. "At the moment, the assumption leans strongly in the direction of an obvious psychiatric illness," the CSU politician said in Aschaffenburg. In the Afghan's lodging, the appropriate medications were found.

However, the search produced "no indications of a radical Islamist sentiment," said Herrmann. In the coming days, the motive for the attack on the kindergarten group will be further investigated. Welt (news) reports, in reference to security circles, that the suspect was already known to authorities.

The 28-year-old suspect, according to Herrmann, traveled to Germany in November 2022 and later applied for asylum. His proceedings were closed after the man himself informed authorities that he wanted to leave the country.

He said that he intended to get the necessary papers from the Afghan General Consulate. He was then ordered to leave the country by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. However, ultimately, he did not leave.

According to Herrmann, the 28-year-old was documented three times for acts of violence. Thus, he was placed in institutions for psychiatric treatment but was then released.

Rail traffic affected

As to a second person initially arrested, suspicion is now ruled out. It is a witness. "This person is now being interviewed," the police report on X.

Because the suspect tried to flee over the railway tracks, rail traffic in Aschaffenburg was halted. Trains to and from Aschaffenburg were initially held back according to the Railway. How big the impact on regional and long-distance traffic would be was initially impossible to predict.

Frequent foot patrols in park

Aschaffenburg has around 70,000 residents and lies in the Bavarian government district of Lower Franconia near the state border with Hessen. The park, named Schoental Park, is located in the inner city. The police are there from time to time with foot patrols, as another police speokesperson said. That may possibly be why the suspect could be quickly caught.

Whether witnesses to the crime responded is to be clarified. The historical park in the English garden style, according to the city, is more than 9 hectors in size.

Subsequent to the violent crime, police asked for help from possible witnesses. "We are preparing a link with which you can send us relevant photos and videos," the Lower Franconia Police Presiduim reported on X. The link should be posted soon. Witnesses to the incident should also call the police emergency number 110 or report to a police station.

Söder condemns the act: "Cowardly and despicable"

The Bavarian Minister President, Markus Söder (CSU), commented on the attack Wednesday afternoon. "Today is a terrible day for all of Bavaria. The terrible news from Afschaffenburg affects us all deeply. We mourn for the victims of a cowardly and despicable act."

Söder is demanding that the circumstances of the crime must be fully clarified. Nevertheless, now is the time to pause. "Bavaria stands together in these difficult hours," the State minister president stated.

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) demanded an explanation from the authorities as to why the perpetrator was still in Germany. "I am sick and tired of every couple of weeks such violent acts happen to us here," the SPD politician said in a statement. "From perpetrators who actually come to us to find protection here. Misplaced tolerance is fully inappropriate," Scholz expressed his condolences to victims and relatives.

CDU-leader Friedrich Merz stated on X that the attack shocked him deeply. His thoughts are with the victims and their families. Merz also writes in his post: "This can not go on. We must and will restore law and order!"