Germany: Islamist brings train traffic to a standstill with a bomb threat – politicians and press initially suspected right-wing radicals

Did the bomb threat at Offenburg railway station have a politically and religiously motivated background or was it simply an adolescent acting out? On the second day after the large-scale police operation in the tranquil town of Offenburg, the main suspect is now in custody.

On Wednesday, a few hours after the large-scale police operation, the 18-year-old was brought before the magistrate at the Karlsruhe district court. According to Manuel Graulich, press spokesman of the responsible law enforcement agency, he then issued the arrest warrant.

The 18-year-old is not unknown to the police. In a joint press release, the public prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe and the Offenburg police headquarters refer to an incident at the beginning of the year. On January 14, the accused, who was still a teenager at the time, was noticed by the police because they found a “deceptive-looking replica of a firearm” on him during a check.

And even then, the young man managed to just avoid prison. “The Karlsruhe public prosecutor’s office obtained an arrest warrant for the accused, who at the time identified himself as a sympathiser of the IS terrorist militia, on the charge of pretending to have committed a crime, but the warrant was suspended on certain conditions,” the press release reads.

This at least sheds some light on the social background of the 18-year-old, whom the police arrested on a regional train at around 8.50 pm after the bomb threat was made via a social network.

And with that, one speculation seems to be off the table: Does he perhaps belong to the spectrum of right-wing radicals, Corona deniers or to the circle of the extremist group that – as reported – planned the kidnapping of Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) as well as a coup? As Manuel Graulich explained to the editorial staff, there is “no connection whatsoever” to these groups.

Whether the 18-year-old was in a state of mental emergency is also the subject of the investigation. It is the normal questionnaire that the investigating authorities are trying to clarify. As reported in detail, the alleged bomb threat later in the evening of April 19 called for a huge contingent of state and federal police, especially at Offenburg railway station.

Ansgar Gernsbeck, press officer of the Offenburg police headquarters, told the editorial team that police forces from the Freiburg and Constance police stations were called in to assist. Specially trained dogs helped in the search for explosives. However, no such substances were found.

An eyewitness wrote on Facebook that the train and the station had been evacuated. His comment: “Everything on the spot is just like in the movies.” The large-scale police operation in Offenburg caused by the bomb threat had serious consequences, especially for long-distance rail traffic in the Rhine Valley. The railway station in Lahr was also closed for two hours.

In the initial scenario, the police assumed that the attack could also have been carried out there. After an intensive search of the station area, however, the all-clear was given after about two hours.
As a result, train traffic did not start moving for a long time. It was not until around 0.30 a.m. that regular services were possible again. Those who wanted to take the high-speed train ICE 377 from Berlin Ostbahnhof to Basel SBB, for example, needed patience.The train stopped for almost one and a half hours in Karlsruhe main station.

https://bnn.de/mittelbaden/ortenau/nach-bombendrohung-am-bahnhof-offenburg-beschuldigter-sympathisierte-mit-terrormiliz-is