The latest on the Aschaffenburg park attack is that the two people who were killed were a two-year-old boy of “multiple stab wounds” and a 41-year-old man. The arrested suspect is a 28-year-old Afghan male, so says local police in a statement.
The number of “seriously injured” people has been revised up from two to four, including another child and three adults, Germany’s Die Welt relates.
Distressingly, the newspaper states the attack may have been on a group of day-care children who had been taken out to the park for a walk by their teachers. It reports the attacker followed the group, and when they tried to leave the area he attacked, allegedly “specifically targeting the children”. The deceased adult male is reported to have put himself between the knifeman and the children.
It is further asserted that “The police are said to have ruled out a terrorist background.”
Police locked down the Schöntal park close to the city centre of the town of Aschaffenburg in Bavaria, Germany around Wednesday midday after “several” people were stabbed. Police later stated two people had died, an adult and a child, and that two people in “serious” condition were receiving hospital treatment.
Initially two suspects were arrested, but one of them was quickly released and treated as a witness. A nearby railway was also shut down as it is reported the suspect attempted to flee over the tracks.
Child Among Dead in Mass Stabbing at German Park, Knifeman Arrested