Washington Post – by Anthony Faiola and Rick Noack
BERLIN — German police swarmed the main train station in the city of Düsseldorf after an ax attack left at least seven people injured, authorities said. At least three of the victims were seriously injured.
Düsseldorf police spokesman Andre Hartwich said one suspect has been arrested and police were investigating the motive. Authorities identified the suspect as a 36-year-old man who lived in the city of Wuppertal, located about 20 miles from Düsseldorf. He originally moved to Germany from the former Yugoslavia and “apparently has mental issues,” according to a police statement released late Thursday night. Authorities did not name the suspect.
Two other individuals were also detained during the police operation following the incident but they are not currently being treated as suspects connected to the attack, according to Hartwich.
Another police spokesman, Andreas Czogalla, said that there were no indications of other attackers. Special units for serious crimes had been dispatched to the scene immediately after authorities were informed of the attack, he said. An investigation was underway but there was so far no reason to believe that the incident was terrorism-related, Czogalla said.
The train station, which was temporarily closed after the attack, has since been reopened.
Authorities were first informed about the attack at 8.50 p.m. local time.
An amateur video apparently shot from the scene showed a shell-shocked eyewitness walking around bloodstained floors as police tended to a wounded person on the ground.
“The guy just started striking at people with an ax,” the unidentified man in the video says. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life, directly next to me he started hitting people with an ax.”
“We were standing on the platform, platform 14, waiting for the train. Suddenly, he came out of the train, I think, with an ax and started striking at people. Two meters next to us,” the same man said in the video.
A passenger on a Düsseldorf-bound train, Bruno Macedo, tweeted: “Breaking: Man with ax chased by police in Düsseldorf. Station closed. I am in the train things look bad #police #terror”
Authorities said the attacker appeared to have chosen his victims “indiscriminately.” The man believed to be the attacker jumped from a nearby bridge following the incident and was subsequently arrested. He was severely injured and is currently in a hospital, according to a police statement.
Noack reported from London. Stephanie Kircher in Berlin contributed to this report.
Uh-oh! Time to create a bill to ban the use of axes.