A boy, aged two, and a man, 41, have been stabbed to death in a horror attack in Germany after a suspected asylum seeker armed with a knife ambushed a nursery group.
The child, who was reportedly Moroccan, and adult were slain in Schontal Park, located in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg, Germany, at around 11:45am.
Local police said: ‘A 28-year-old man from Afghanistan was arrested close to the crime scene’.
According to Spiegel, the suspected perpetrator is a male asylum seeker who is said to have had mental health problems.
The news outlet reported the Afghan’s name is Enamullah O., and said he was born in 1997 and lives in an asylum accommodation in the region.
Investigators say he had already shown psychological problems in the past.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday he would demand to know why the Afghan suspect in a deadly knife attack had been able to stay in the country.
‘The authorities must explain as quickly as possible why the attacker was even still in Germany,’ Scholz said in a statement reacting to the devastating attack.
Rescue and security worker are seen near the crime scene in Aschaffenburg, Germany
Police and ambulances were pictured near the scene in Schöntal Park, Aschaffenburg
An eyewitness told the Main-Echo newspaper that the arrested man was taken away ‘in a headlock’
The knife attacker was also was required to leave the country, authorities said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said: ‘On December 4, the suspect himself announced his voluntary departure.
‘As a result, on December 11, the BAMF finally closed the asylum procedure and asked the person concerned to leave the country.’
The suspect had allegedly been following a day care group of five young children before launching the attack, according to Main-Echo.
An eyewitness told the Main-Echo newspaper that the arrested man was taken away ‘in a headlock.’
Cops confirmed that two people had died while two others were seriously injured in the attack, and are now being treated in hospital.
According to Bild, one of the seriously injured is also a child.
‘Two people were fatally injured,’ police said, while ‘two seriously injured people are receiving treatment in hospital.
‘The suspect was arrested in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene.’
A second person arrested was a witness and was being questioned, police said.
‘There are no indications of other suspects’ and no further danger to the public, they added.
Police also said investigations into the ‘background of the crime’ were ongoing.
Main-Echo reported that teachers from an Aschaffenburg daycare center were out on a local trip to Schontal with five small children.
‘The attacker is said to have followed this group. The teachers noticed this and they wanted to leave Schontal,’ the news site said.
‘When they wanted to leave, the man is said to have attacked the group with a knife. He was apparently specifically targeting the children.
‘One teacher suffered injuries and is now in hospital, another is receiving psychological care.
‘The other children have now been picked up by their parents and are receiving psychological care’.
In a press release following the incident, Lower Franconia Police confirmed: ‘The Aschaffenburg police, with the support of surrounding departments, launched a large-scale search for the suspect immediately after the incident became known.
‘The 28-year-old was arrested in the immediate vicinity. The suspected weapon used in the crime, a knife, was confiscated’.
The motive for the attack remains unclear and police have asked that people refrain from speculation.
German police secures a park, where earlier today two people were killed in a knife attack, one of them a child, in Aschaffenburg
Rescue vehicles are seen near the crime scene in Aschaffenburg
A large area was cordoned off covering Schöntal Park, police said, and rail traffic in the area was temporarily suspended.
Train services in the town were temporarily interrupted as the suspect tried to flee along the tracks, German news agency dpa reported. However, he was quickly detained, police wrote on the social media platform X.
They also declined to give details about how the attack took place.
The governor of Bavaria condemned the attack and called it ‘a terrible day for all of Bavaria.’
‘We mourn the victims of a cowardly and despicable act. We mourn the loss of a small, innocent child who was fatally injured,’ Markus Söder wrote on X.
‘We mourn the loss of a helper who paid for his civil courage with his own life.’
‘The circumstances of this inconceivable act must be fully clarified,’ he added. ‘But now is the time to pause for thought. It simply hurts. We pray for the victims and their families. We hope that all those injured recover quickly and fully.’
Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser expressed her compassion for the families of the victims and vowed that ‘the investigation will shed light on the background to this terrible act of violence.’
‘My thoughts and heartfelt sympathy are with the parents of the child who was killed, for whom there could be no more terrible news,’ she said. ‘My deepest sympathy also goes to the family of the man who lost his life as a result of this brutal act.’
The suspect is believed to have tried to escape by running across nearby railway tracks, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.
In November, police classified parts of the city centre park as a ‘dangerous place’ due to an increase in ‘drug-related crimes’, which reportedly included robbery and assault.
There were reported to be regular patrols of the area, which is potentially why the suspect was apprehended so quickly.
Police have asked for witnesses to come forward and share any relevant pictures or videos as the investigation into the attack continues.