BERLIN (Reuters) – A 28-year-old man from Afghanistan was arrested following a knife attack on Wednesday in a park in the German city of Aschaffenburg in which two people were killed, including a toddler, police and the state health minister said.
The suspect deliberately attacked a kindergarten group in the park with a kitchen knife, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said.
A 41-year old passerby, a German man, and a two-year old boy of Moroccan descent were fatally injured, while a Syrian two-year old girl was injured, he said.
The suspect was detained at the scene in Schoental park, an English-style garden in the city, where the attack took place on Wednesday morning.
Three other people were also wounded, including a 61-year-old man, a child and a teacher, Bavarian Health Minister Judith Gerlach said.
The suspect, who had a history of violent behaviour, was undergoing psychiatric treatment. He had had his asylum process closed and said he would voluntarily leave Germany in December, but had not left and remained under treatment, Herrmann said.
The stabbings add to a string of violent attacks in Germany that have raised concerns over security and migration ahead of parliamentary elections on Feb. 23.
“An initial search of his accommodation in the asylum shelter did not reveal any signs of radical Islamist tendencies but only medications consistent with his psychiatric treatment,” Hermann added.
Police said there was no indication there might be further suspects involved in the incident.
On Dec. 20, six people were killed and around 200 hurt when a Saudi doctor rammed a car into people strolling at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg.
(Reporting by Rachel More and Riham Alkousaa, editing by Thomas Seythal, Editing by Madeline Chambers and Bernadette Baum)
