After the bloody attack in a Duisburg gym, a 26-year-old suspect was taken into custody. That was decided by a magistrate on Monday, according to the public prosecutor’s office. The man made use of his right to remain silent during the demonstration and was represented by a lawyer, said a spokeswoman for the authority.
The charges are attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm. In the attack on Tuesday evening, the suspect is said to have seriously injured four people with a long-bladed knife – the youngest victim, a 21-year-old man, was still in mortal danger.
Investigators said the suspect was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. According to the police and public prosecutor’s office, the Syrian had applied for asylum in Germany in April 2016. In 2018 he was noticed in two cases of minor property crimes. However, both procedures have been discontinued. The investigation into the motive for the attack was ongoing, the spokeswoman said.
search and arrest
Special police units arrested the suspect on Sunday night after information from two acquaintances of the man in his Duisburg apartment near the crime scene. Two knives were seized, which investigators believe may be the murder weapon. One of the knives – the possible murder weapon – has a 20 centimeter blade, the prosecutor said. Witnesses to the crime even spoke of a machete during the investigation.
In the further investigations, among other things, the knives would be examined for DNA traces of the victims, said the prosecutor. Investigators also confiscated the suspect’s cell phones and clothing. Further witnesses are currently being heard and traces secured at the crime scene and in the suspect’s apartment are being evaluated.
The suspect had also been searched for with photos from surveillance cameras since Friday. On Saturday afternoon, the two acquaintances contacted the police together and gave specific information about the suspect. They “recognized 100 percent” the man, his clothes and his backpack in the pictures, the spokeswoman said.
The pictures that the police released and provided by witnesses came from a restaurant, a clothing store and a tram stop near the crime scene, they said.
Of the four victims of the attack in the gym, two 24-year-olds were in hospital at the weekend in addition to the critically injured 21-year-old, but not in mortal danger. Only one 32-year-old injured person has since been released from the hospital. According to the current state of the investigation, the 21-year-old is said to have been specifically attacked by the suspect. Whether the other men were accidental victims initially remained unanswered.
