Dead in Mannheim
Car plowed into crowd: wild scenes before arrest
A man drove a car into a crowd of people in the German city of Mannheim on Monday. There are numerous injuries and at least two fatalities. The perpetrator was arrested and is currently injured in hospital. As the "Krone" learned, a dramatic situation occurred immediately before the arrest.
At shortly after 12 noon, scenes reminiscent of the attacks in Magdeburg in December or Munich in mid-February occurred: the suspect drove his car through the pedestrian zone in Mannheim. At Paradeplatz, he hit or killed several passers-by on the several hundred meter long Planken, the main shopping street.
A carnival market with dozens of food stalls and rides is currently taking place there around the water tower. According to the police, however, there are no indications so far that the crime is connected to a carnival event.
Injured himself with a blank-firing pistol
Two people died in the attack, which the police do not classify as a political act. Five other people were seriously injured and a further five were slightly injured. In the course of the manhunt, the 40-year-old was arrested - and another dramatic situation arose: according to eyewitness reports, the perpetrator injured himself with a blank-firing pistol immediately before being arrested. He is being treated in hospital.
Photos also show the driver's completely demolished black compact car.
Child among the injured
Three of the injured were treated at Mannheim University Hospital, including a child. According to the information provided, they were "classified as having a high degree of medical urgency" and received acute medical care. Emergency care, including pastoral care, was also provided at the university hospital.
Perpetrator probably suffering from mental illness
The motive for the attack remains unclear for the time being. According to "Bild", the man is a 40-year-old German citizen from Rhineland-Palatinate with no migration background, who is said to have had a history of mental illness. According to information from "Spiegel", there are also indications of a mental illness.
According to the Mannheim police, the suspect acted alone. "There is currently no danger to the public", the police stated in the afternoon, after a "life-threatening situation" had previously been reported and warnings had been issued against being in the city center of Mannheim.
Neither the police nor Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) wanted to comment on the possible background to the crime or the 40-year-old's motive. "The investigation is still in its early stages and is being conducted at full speed," explained Strobl.
The case is reminiscent of several attacks in which vehicles were driven into crowds of people in recent weeks. In December, six people were killed in Magdeburg when a now 50-year-old doctor drove through the Christmas market. In mid-February, a man drove his vehicle into a group of demonstrators in Munich. A young woman and a child were killed.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser,
die Kommentarfunktion steht Ihnen ab 6 Uhr wieder wie gewohnt zur Verfügung.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
das krone.at-Team
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.