First weekend of Advent at the Christmas market and already the first incident: a man ( a 29-year-old Moroccan) is alleged to have harassed several people at the ice rink, then pulled out a knife.
Initially, a witness spotted the suspect on Saturday evening in Weimar, Thuringia, harassing people at the famous ice rink in front of the National Theatre.
He then approached the man, but the latter reacted aggressively and suddenly threatened the witness with a knife. Several visitors to the Christmas market noticed this and intervened. The situation began to escalate.
The police were alerted, and investigators confirmed what the horrified visitors had witnessed shortly before: ‘During the incident, the 29-year-old pulled out a knife, creating a threatening situation. Bystanders noticed what was happening and pushed the man away from the Christmas market area. When the police arrived, the situation was initially unclear.’
The scuffle had meanwhile moved towards a snack bar on Heinrich-Heine-Straße, where the man continued to threaten people with a knife: ‘During the police operation, the 29-year-old was overpowered and taken into police custody. The suspect and three other people were slightly injured by the use of pepper spray.’ The Moroccan man resisted violently and had to be restrained.
During the operation, the street was completely closed for several hours and forensic investigators arrived at the scene. Bus services were disrupted.