A day after the crime, the 26-year-old man handed himself over to the police. He is said to have been dirty and covered in blood.
Three people died and several were seriously injured in the attack, which took place during a city festival on Friday. They must have been selected at random by the perpetrator.
The terrorist group IS has claimed responsibility. They describe the act as carried out by a “soldier” against a “collection of Christians” as revenge for what is happening in the Palestinian territories.
An investigation into terror has been launched, but it is not yet clear whether the suspected 26-year-old has a connection to the organization.
The asylum application was rejected
The 26-year-old came to Germany in 2022 and has been hiding from the authorities since the beginning of 2023 after he was rejected on his asylum application and asked to leave the country. This is because, according to the Dublin Regulation, he should have applied for asylum in Bulgaria, the EU country he first arrived in.
The man should otherwise be unpunished and should not have been flagged as an extremist by the German security police.
The case has been taken over by federal prosecutors who are now, among other things, investigating the man for murder and suspected collusion with the Islamic State.
Two others arrested
Two more people have been arrested after the crime. One of them, a 15-year-old from Kyrgyzstan, is said to have possibly known that an attack was planned but without informing the police, according to information to the AP news agency.
A second person believed to have been in contact with the 26-year-old was arrested on Saturday. The deprivation of liberty took place after a raid on an asylum accommodation near the scene of the crime and in which the 26-year-old also allegedly lived.
In the clip above: SVT’s European correspondent Christoffer Wendick tells how the act, and similar previous acts, affect politics in Germany.
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Hear the eyewitness to the stabbing in Germany: “He seemed to attack people at random” Photo: SVT, AFP