It appears that the stabbing in a train in Herzogenrath, Germany, just across the border at Kerkrade was not an Islamic terrorist act.
“We have so far no indication of an Islamist motive,” said a spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service in Aachen. During the attack, there were 270 passengers on the train, which had just left Herzogenrath for Aachen.
Random
A 31-year-old man of Iraqi descent stabbed travelers randomly on Friday morning. Five people were injured. They had cuts to the face, hand or shoulder. The suspect himself was also injured. He and four of the victims were taken to hospital.
Also read: Man stabs travelers in train across border at Kerkrade
Psychiatric clinic
A 60-year-old police officer in plain clothes, who also happened to be on the train, managed to push the suspect to the ground along with two other train passengers. It is being examined whether the man will be arrested or whether he will be admitted to a psychiatric clinic.
Radical Islamic ideology
According to Herbert Reul (CDU), Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia, the suspect is no stranger to the police. He lives somewhere in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2017, the asylum seekers center where the man was staying tipped off the police. The German asylum seekers’ center feared that the man adhered to radical Islamic ideas. According to Reul, the man has since isolated himself further and further from his surroundings and other people and has grown a beard. He also took different names, making it difficult to trace his identity.