Knife attack in Bielefeld: Arrest of the suspect after escape!

Knife attack in Bielefeld: Arrest of the suspect after escape!

On the night of Sunday night, a severe knife attack occurred in Bielefeld in front of a bar, in which several celebrating people, including football fans of Arminia Bielefeld, were injured. The attacker, a 35-year-old Syrian, fled after the crime. Later, the police in Düsseldorf were able to arrest a suspect, with a witness in Essen's indication of the investigation to clarify the incident. According to information from OP-ONLINE The suspect traveled from the Bielefeld main station to Hamm and then after Essen, where he was looking for connections at Velbert at the main train station.

The police then focused on several potential locations of the suspect. He was finally arrested on Monday evening at 10:42 p.m. by special units in an empty apartment in Heiligenhaus. During the arrest, the suspect resisted and suffered minor injuries. It remains unclear who the premises belonged. According to the investigation, the suspect lives in Harsewinkel near Bielefeld and has not yet appeared police.

Investigations and motif

The Federal Prosecutor's office has taken over the investigation in the case, and there is suspicion of attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm. According to Tagesschau , at least four people were seriously injured in the attack. A corresponding document that indicates a religious motivation of the crime was found by the accused. This opens up the possibility of an extremist motivated act that may be seen as an attack on the democratic basic order.

As part of the investigation, several searches were carried out by a special operational command. Investigators also check information on possible contacts by the suspect to the Islamist scene. The suspect had entered Europe via Turkey in 2023 and received temporary protection status after an asylum application in December 2023.

knife attacks in Germany

The incident in Bielefeld is involved in a discussion about the increase in knife attacks in Germany. According to Integration in 2021 a total of 10,917 "knife attacks" were recorded, an increase of 2020. Of these were registered with raids, during 8.160 Cases of severe or dangerous bodily harm. Studies show that the proportion of non-German suspect in knife attacks is often higher than the proportion of foreigners in the population.

Media reporting on these acts of violence has also increased, with fatal offenses in particular make a high proportion of the reports. But there are also critical voices that criticize a distortion in the representation of the suspects, since German perpetrators are often not mentioned.