Police officer dies after knife attack in Mannheim

This was announced by the Karlsruhe public prosecutor’s office, the Mannheim police headquarters and the State Criminal Police Office on Sunday evening. The attacker, who was from Afghanistan, stabbed the 29-year-old officer several times in the head area. Several people were injured in the attack on Friday morning.

“He underwent emergency surgery immediately after the incident and was placed in an artificial coma, but succumbed to his serious injuries in the late afternoon hours of June 2,” the authorities said. “We mourn the loss of a police officer who gave his life for our safety.”

• The OÖN reported: Knife attack on Islam critic in Mannheim: Police shoot attacker

Perpetrator not fit for questioning

The motive of the 25-year-old perpetrator is still unclear. The man, who was born in Afghanistan but came to Germany as a teenager in 2014, has not yet been able to be questioned – he was also injured in the minutes after the attack. He has not yet come to the attention of the police. He is married, has two children and lives in Heppenheim, Hesse.

In the attack, the man injured six men, including the police officer, at an event organized by the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa (BPE) on Friday morning on the market square in the city center. BPE board member Michael Stürzenberger was also among those injured.

In the “Bild am Sonntag” newspaper, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) called the images of the knife attack a sad testimony to where extremism leads. “We will never accept violence, regardless of whether it comes from the left, the right or from the Islamist environment,” the Chancellor told the German newspaper.