There was a knife attack at a public viewing event in the supporters’ area in Stuttgart this summer. A Syrian stabbed three football fans with a knife. Research proves it: The perpetrator chose his victims at random and had previously attracted attention for being strictly religious. it was June 26 – the last group game of the European Football Championship (Turkey vs. the Czech Republic) was just before the final whistle. Saleh Al H. stabbed indiscriminately in Stuttgart’s European Championship supporters’ area, injuring three people, some of them seriously. ‘Limit immigration’ was the demand of CDU state leader Manuel Hagel. But the debate about security at the European Football Championships failed to materialise.
New research by the newspaper ‘Welt’ proves this: The authorities communicated about the suspected Islamist terror only to a limited extent; initial police reports even only mentioned an ‘altercation’ which was said to have escalated. Today, however, the case is quite different. Saleh Al H. stabbed suddenly and without prior communication.
The Ministry of the Interior was keen to prevent the attack from making headlines. They did not want to cover it up, but kept a low profile, according to security sources.
‘There are currently no indications of an Islamist motive for the offence,’ the responsible public prosecutor’s office told the newspaper. ‘The accused has not previously made any criminal offences. But that is not true. In his former place of residence, Besigheim near Stuttgart, Al H. attacked people several times.
Al H. lived in refugee accommodation on the outskirts of the town. Former flatmates told the newspaper Die Welt that he withdrew several times a day to pray. And he had often snapped and even grabbed a knife. After an attack on his room neighbour – he beat him up with a coffee maker – Al H. was moved to another building within the accommodation. Witnesses reported that the perpetrator believed his roommate wanted to turn away from Islam.
At Besigheim railway station, Al H. threatened the owner of a snack bar with a knife after he demanded money from him for goods he had ordered. All these incidents were known to the police, but Saleh Al H. remained at large.