Police probe Berlin knife attacker for Islamist motive
'Deranged' Syrian, 23, attacked several people on New Year's Eve 'for no apparent reason,' witnesses say
Berlin police said Tuesday they were unable to rule out an Islamist background after a “deranged” Syrian knifeman was arrested over an attack in one of the German capital’s underground stations.
Witnesses said the 23-year-old, identified as Ahmad Al-H., attacked several people with a knife “for no apparent reason” at the Bayerischer Platz station in southwestern Berlin on New Year’s Eve, according to a police report.
But the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported that he had asked one 50-year-old German man his nationality and called him an “infidel” before stabbing him.
The man suffered a light injury but declined medical treatment, police said.
Other people attacked by the knife wielder including a mother with a young child escaped unharmed, according to Tagesspiegel.
Police said only that the attacker — who the paper reported was known to officers after being involved in several brawls — “seemed deranged” when they arrested him in response to emergency calls.
Following the arrest, officers brought the knifeman to a clinic and had him examined by a psychiatrist.
“We can’t confirm or deny (the reports), we are checking whether there may be an Islamist background,” a police spokesman told AFP.
The investigation has been passed to a unit which deals with politically motivated crimes, according to the police report.