The man screamed “Allahu Akbar” but police say they still do not have a motive
A Somali national was shot and wounded by police after he stabbed two German men to death while screaming “Allahu akbar,” in the German city of Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. A third individual was wounded at a separate location.
Police sources indicate that the 24-year-old Somali man screamed “Allahu akbar” before stabbing the 20- and 25-year-old victims on the street. Police also told Spiegel Magazine that the Somali cut off the hands of one of his victims. However, police say the motive for the murder is unclear and still under investigation.
“We are investigating in all directions,” said the spokeswoman for the police headquarters.
Germany: Jihad motive suspected after Somali knife-attacker kills teacher while she protected her 11-year-old daughter in Würzburg
Three women died in the attack
Whether there is a connection between the suspect’s nationality and the crime is still unclear, said the police spokesman, who said nothing is known about the motive. “We do not participate in speculation.”
After the Somali suspect fled the scene, he wounded another 27-year-old man at a separate location, but he is expected to survive, according to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine.
The suspect was stopped inside a drugstore nearby before being shot by police. Police indicate that a school and kindergarten were also in the vicinity.
The suspect was operated on for his injuries and is expected to recover.
Dutch politician Geert Wilders commented on the stabbing in Germany, writing on Twitter, “A few days after the gruesome murder of a 12-year-old girl in France by Algerians, Germany is now hit: A Somali stabs 2 people to death. Multicultural hell strikes again and again; this time it is an ‘Allahu Akbar’ shrieking follower of Mohammed.”
Wilder was referring to the murder of the 12-year-old schoolgirl Lola in Paris, with the case making international headlines.
Somali migrants have long been involved in a range of knife attacks in Germany. Notably, a Somali migrant stabbed three women to death last year in the German city of Würzburg, including a mother who died trying to shield her daughter from the attacker. The daughter reportedly ran screaming for help through the Woolworth department store covered in her own mother’s blood. Despite the man screaming “Allahu Ackbar” during the attacks and telling investigators that he “achieved Jihad,” an Islamic motive was ruled out. Instead, the man was deemed to have “psychiatric issues,” enabling him to avoid prison time.
Knife attacks have also dramatically increased in tandem with migration. There are more than 50 knife attacks every day in Germany, and the 39.4 percent of perpetrators are foreign nationals despite making up 12.5 percent of the population.