Reutlingen knife attack

Reutlingen knife attack

A street in Reutlingen
Location Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Date 24 July 2016 (2016-07-24)
Attack type
 Hacking
Weapons Döner knife[1]
Deaths 1
Non-fatal injuries
 3 (including the attacker)
Perpetrator A Syrian asylum-seeker

On 24 July 2016, a Syrian asylum seeker armed with a döner knife attacked a co-worker and bystanders in Reutlingen, Germany, killing the coworker, a pregnant Polish woman, and wounding two other people in the forearm and head, before being subdued by a civilian who hit him with a car and arrested by police.[2]

Attack

The attack took place around 16:30 CEST (14:30 UTC) by a kebab shop where the perpetrator, a 21-year old Syrian asylum-seeker, and his 45-year old pregnant victim both worked, and from where he retrieved the weapon.[3][4][5]

The attacker and the victim had an argument before the attack. The attacker then killed her with the weapon he retrieved from the shop and also injured another woman and a man. He was subdued by a driver, Alper Meyvalı, of Turkish heritage, who hit him with his car.[6][5][3] The police then arrested him after they arrived on the scene.[7][3]

The Polish Embassy confirmed that the victim, who was pregnant, was Polish.[8] Police are investigating under the assumption that it was a personal quarrel between the assailant and the dead woman.[9]

Perpetrator

The assailant was identified as a 21-year-old asylum seeker from Syria who had migrated to Germany about one-and-a-half years before the attack. He worked at the same Turkish kebab shop where the pregnant victim worked.[3][7] He was known to police and was previously arrested for causing bodily harm.[10] He had lived in a home in the town for seven months. One of his former roommates identified his first name as Mohamed and described him as an alcoholic who was feared by his other roommates. He also said that the attacker was in a relationship with the victim and both had previously lived together in a refugee camp.[11]

Aftermath

This attack, one of four violent crimes committed by people of Middle Eastern background during the week of 18 July 2016 – three of them committed by asylum seekers – created significant political pressure for changes in the German government policy of welcoming refugees.[12][13] According to The Washington Times, the attacks increased public fears that Islamist terrorist attacks of the kind that took place in France in 2015 and 2016 could happen in Germany.[13] Florian Otto, a risk consultant from Maplecroft, said the attacks are likely to inflame anti-immigration sentiment in the country, creating a challenge for the Merkel government's policies.[12]

Rainer Wendt, chairman of the German Police Union, said, "It is virtually impossible to stop lone wolves if his social circle does not alert the authorities to alarm," and that Germany had "lost control" of its borders as a result of Chancellor Merkel's open-door policy of towards migrants from the Middle East.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tatwaffe von Reutlingen war ein Dönermesser", by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, via Reutlinger General-Anzeiger
  2. ↑ Janjevic, Darko (25 July 2016). "Police arrest Syrian man after woman killed in knife attack in Germany". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 25 July 2016. An attacker has allegedly killed one woman and injured five in the city of Reutlingen in southwest Germany, according to local police.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Weise, Zia (24 July 2016). "Germany machete attack: Syrian asylum seeker murders 'pregnant' woman in Reutlingen". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Mayjeyes, Toby (24 July 2016). "Woman killed and two injured in machete attack in Germany". Metro (British newspaper). Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Germany machete attack: Syria migrant kills woman" (25 July 2016). BBC. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "Turkish man stops machete attacker fleeing crime scene in Germany" (26 July 2016). Daily Sabah. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  7. 1 2 Eddy, Melissa (24 July 2016). "Syrian Refugee Arrested in Germany After Fatal Machete Attack". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  8. ↑ "Man with machete kills woman in southern Germany". The Guardian. 24 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "One dead, three injured in machete attack in German city of Reutlingen, police say". ABC News. 25 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Germany: Syrian arrested after deadly machete attack". Al Jazeera. Reuters. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Er stoppte den Macheten-Mann | Das ist der Held von Reutlingen" [He stopped the machete man | This is the hero of Reutlingen]. Bild. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  12. 1 2 "German Refugee Policy Under Fire After a Week of Bloodshed". New York Times. AP. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 Costello, Patrick (25 July 2016). "Terror attacks shake German citizenry anxious about open-door immigration policy". The Washington Times. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
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