 "Suspect in Hamburg stabbing attack had ‘clear indications of psychological illness’, says police")
Police stated on Saturday that a German woman who is suspected of carrying out a major stabbing attack that left 18 people injured at a Hamburg train station has a mental illness.
The suspect, a 39-year-old woman, is suspected of going on a stabbing spree at Hamburg’s main station on Friday, shocking the northern metropolis during peak evening rush hour.
Police said in a statement that the woman had “very clear indications of a psychological illness” but did not provide any other information about her condition.
They said that there was no evidence she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident, which left four people critically injured.
According to authorities, the lady was restrained by two passers-by and law enforcement officers before being brought into custody at the site without resisting arrest.
She was scheduled to appear before a judge later Saturday.
Police said they’ve ruled out a “political motive” for the attack and think that the suspect acted alone.
The victims’ ages vary from 19 to 85.
According to authorities, the four people in critical condition were a 24-year-old man and three women, aged 24, 52, and 85.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsEmergency personnel initially stated that their injuries were life-threatening, but police say all of the patients seemed to be out of immediate danger.
Rush hour
The attack took place just after 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) Friday on one of the platforms in front of a standing train, German media reported.
The suspect was thought to have turned “against passengers” at the station, a spokeswoman for the Hanover federal police directorate, which also covers Hamburg, told AFP.
Some of the victims were treated onboard waiting trains in the station, German daily Bild reported.
Images of the scene showed access to the platforms at one end of the station blocked off by police and people being loaded into waiting ambulances.
Forensic police could also be seen walking up and down the platforms where the attack took place.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his shock in a call with the mayor of Hamburg.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Merz said, according to a readout from a spokesman.
Germany has been rocked in recent months by a series of violent attacks with often jihadist or far-right extremist motivations that have put security at the top of the agenda.
The most recent, on Sunday, saw four people injured in a stabbing at a bar in the city of Bielefeld.
The investigation into that attack has been handed over to federal prosecutors after the Syrian suspect told the police officers who arrested him that he had jihadist beliefs.
The question of security – and the immigrant origin of some of the attackers – was a major topic during Germany’s recent election campaign.
Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU topped the February vote, which also saw a record score of more than 20 percent for the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Last year, Germany toughened its legislation on carrying knives, now banned at public gatherings and on long-distance trains.
They are also banned in specific zones in some cities, including at Hamburg’s train station.
But experts and police unions have previously questioned whether such bans are effective.
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