Suspicion of Islamism: DB app leads on a trail of alleged knife attackers

In the case of the knife attack in front of a bar in Bielefeld, the police tracked down the fleeting suspect by the decisive reference to a witness in Essen. Accordingly, the alleged attacker had initially taken a train from Bielefeld Central Station several hours after the crime on Sunday afternoon, as it was said from security circles.

In Hamm he switched towards Essen. The suspect Syrian addressed a person at the main station there. The suspect then opened the DB app on the mobile phone of the witness to look for connections to Velbert (Mettmann district). The witness then turned to the police. The suspect was probably driven on to Velbert by local transport and bus.

The investigation then focused on three objects that could be considered the potential residence of the suspect, it continued. Among other things, this included the residential address of a presumed cousin of the suspect in the neighboring Heiligenhaus.

Suspect provided in a empty apartment

The suspect was initially not found during the search on Monday evening. According to the information, he was finally arrested at 10:42 p.m. by special units in an empty apartment in Heiligenhaus. He was slightly injured. It was initially unclear who the apartment belonged.

The 35 -year -old suspect lives in Harsewinkel near Bielefeld. He is said to have stabbed guests with knives in front of the bar on Sunday in front of the bar. Several people were seriously injured.

On Tuesday evening, the federal prosecutor had taken over the investigation in the case. There was suspicion that the crime was religiously motivated, it said. A spokeswoman for the Federal Prosecutor said in the ARD that a document was found in the accused that suggested a religious motivation.