Update from Mannheim; knifeman from Afghanistan

According to Der Spiegel today, with the help of schoolgirl German and an on-line translator the knifeman who stabbed 6 people in Mannheim yesterday including a police officer is one Sulaiman A., who was born in Herat, Afghanistan, and lived in Hesse, about 40 kilometers from Mannheim. 

Investigators believe, but are not yet completely certain that he acted out of an Islamist motive. As his first victim was Michael Stürzenberger a well-known local critic of Islam who was setting up a stand for a rally in the market place at the time this is a reasonable suspicion. 

Mannheim’s mayor Christian Specht (CDU) described the knife attack as a terrorist attack. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said “If the investigations reveal an Islamist motive, then this would be a renewed confirmation of the great danger posed by Islamist acts of violence, of which we have warned.” 

The police officer was stabbed in the neck and while he stood up after the injury the wound was such that he is seriously ill. 

According to AP (in English) 

A statement from police and prosecutors said that the suspect (aged 25) had lived in Germany since 2014, was married and has two children. His apartment in the town of Heppenheim was searched Friday night and police recovered digital devices whose contents were being evaluated.

Officials said that the suspect, who was shot and wounded by police, was hospitalized and not in a condition to be questioned. They said he had no prior police record.

Stürzenberger, 59, posted a picture of himself on his Telegram channel from his hospital bed, showing a long, bandaged cut on his upper lip and cheek. He said he had suffered “significant blood loss” from a stab wound in his thigh as well as a cut on his jaw that had been stapled shut.

One other victim has been released from hosptal while the others are still being treated.