In the early afternoon, the Düsseldorf police and the Wuppertal public prosecutor’s office jointly informed about the investigation into the knife attack at the Wilhelm-Dörpfeld-Gymnasium in Wuppertal-Elberfeld. Colin Rinderz, head of police operations, and public prosecutor Patrick Penders answered questions from the press.
What is currently known and what still needs to be determined – an overview:
The Wuppertal public prosecutor’s office was able to announce on Friday morning: The students injured in the attack are all out of danger. They are 16 and 17 years old and some of them are in the same grade as the suspect.
In addition, three students suffered shock.
The suspected perpetrator is a 17-year-old who was born in Wuppertal.
When the police arrived, he was sitting in a break room with a teacher and had already been disarmed by the teacher. When he saw the police, the teenager is said to have become upset and said that the police should shoot him. The police were then able to handcuff him without using weapons.
The suspect was seriously injured and in the hospital. He was arrested and a judge will decide today on the arrest warrant requested by the public prosecutor.
On Thursday morning around 9:52 a.m. the emergency call from the high school was received by the Wuppertal police control center. Four students were reported injured. The police classified the crime as an act of amok.
The public prosecutor assumes that the suspect entered the school armed with a knife and suddenly stabbed him.
So far, investigators believe that only a single knife was used in the rampage.
According to investigators, the suspected student gave the teacher a letter. In it he admits to the crime. According to the prosecutor, it contains information that indicates mental illness.
