UPDATE:
Perpetrator is Somali
Police operation in Rhineland-Palatinate: Two people were attacked with a knife. Both were killed.
Two people were killed and another seriously injured in a knife attack in Ludwigshafen. The suspected perpetrator was shot and seriously injured during the arrest, a spokeswoman for the Rheinpfalz police headquarters said on Tuesday. The 25-year-old alleged perpetrator was apprehended a short time later by a police patrol in a drugstore. During the arrest, the man was shot and seriously injured.
The background of the crime, the exact course of events and the possible motive are still completely unclear. “We are investigating in all directions,” said the spokeswoman of the police headquarters.
The police had initially announced that the officers had been called in because of a knife attack. When the perpetrator was arrested, shots were fired. According to initial findings, the 25-year-old had attacked several people with a knife on the street around noon. “Two persons died of their injuries,” said the police spokeswoman.
The police spoke of two crime scenes. The place of arrest is in the middle of the Oggersheim district. Nearby are other shops, including a supermarket, and a tram stop. Schools as well as kindergartens are also in the vicinity.
A police spokeswoman said the suspect initially fled after the knife attack. A police patrol took up the pursuit and was able to arrest the man. In the process, the man was shot. It is unclear how seriously the perpetrator and the surviving victim were injured.