Two girls on their way to school were attacked by a man wielding a knife in a town in southern Germany. Police have said they arrested an Eritrean man inside a refugee home near the scene of the attack, as well as detained two other men. Police are investigating the motive behind the attack.
A 14-year-old girl died and a 13-year-old girl was seriously wounded after they were attacked by a man with a knife on their way to school in the southern German village of Illerkirchberg on Monday (December 5).
Police in the nearby city of Ulm said first responders resuscitated the 14-year-old girl before she was rushed to a hospital following the attack at about 7:30 a.m.
"The 14-year-old had to be reanimated at the scene before she could be taken to the hospital, where, despite all efforts to save her life, she died," police said in a statement.
The younger girl remains in the hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries, police added. Both the victims had German citizenship.
Who was behind the attack?
Police said they arrested the main suspect inside a refugee shelter near the scene of the attack. The main suspect was a 27-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker who was found with injuries and a knife, according to police and prosecutors. The man is currently hospitalized and under police custody.
Police said the man had been in the refugee home before the attack and that he had a knife — believed to be the weapon used in the attack — on him when he was arrested.
Two other men also were detained and taken in for questioning, police said.
"When police and SWAT teams searched the premises they encountered three residents, all Eritrean asylum seekers," authorities said in the statement.
No motive for the attack has been announced. Investigators are still trying to determine the motive and whether the suspect and the two girls knew each other before the attack happened.
In their statement, police also urged people to refrain from fuelling suspicion against migrants, stressing that "no general suspicion be harbored against foreigners, refugees or asylum seekers in general, or that such suspicions be aided or abetted."
After the attack, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser tweeted: "I grieve with the girl who was killed and hope fervently that the injured recovers her health…My thoughts are with their families at this time.''
With DPA, AP, and Reuters