The man who injured six people with a knife at a stand of the right-wing populist ‘Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa’ (BPE) in Mannheim probably acted with an Islamist motive, according to investigators. However, this has not yet been confirmed. According to SPIEGEL information, the attacker is 25-year-old Sulaiman A., who was born in Herat, Afghanistan, and lived in Hesse, around 40 kilometres from Mannheim. The suspect had not previously come to the attention of the authorities as an extremist.
The attack happened on Friday morning. The perpetrator had injured five members of the BPE and a police officer with a knife on the market square in Mannheim city centre before he was shot by another police officer.
The injured officer is in agony, said Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU). The police had previously announced that some of the injured had to undergo emergency surgery. Investigators were not yet able to provide any information on the extent and severity of the injuries.
According to ‘Pax Europa’, board member Michael Stürzenberger was also injured.
Mannheim: Ermittler halten islamistisches Motiv für wahrscheinlich – DER SPIEGEL