A knife attack in a park in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg, Germany, on Wednesday left two people, including a two-year-old child dead.
The stabbing occurred at 11:45 a.m. local time in Schöntal Park, where the attacker, a 28-year-old Afghan man, reportedly targeted a group of children from a daycare center. A 41-year-old man, described by Bavarian Premier Markus Söder as a “helper who paid for his civil courage with his life,” was killed while intervening. Two others were hospitalized with severe injuries.
The attacker was arrested at the scene by police. According to reports, the suspect, who lived in an asylum center in the area, has a history of violent behavior and had been detained three times previously.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann revealed that the man’s asylum claim had been rejected and he was scheduled for deportation last year.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the incident as an “unbelievable act of terror” and called for answers about why the suspect was still in the country despite his failed asylum application. “I am sick of seeing such acts of violence by perpetrators who came here seeking protection,” said Scholz.
Authorities are now investigating the motive behind the Aschaffenburg attack. While police have found no signs of radical Islamist or political motivations, questions remain about the suspect’s mental health, given reports of previous psychiatric treatment.
The stabbing is the latest in a series of violent attacks in Germany that have drawn attention to public safety and migration issues. In December, a Saudi doctor drove a car into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing six and injuring 200. In August, three people were fatally stabbed in Solingen, reportedly by a Syrian asylum seeker whose claim had been denied.
