Less than a week after a Muslim teen from Afghanistan used an ax to slash passengers aboard a train in Germany, a Syrian refugee in Germany used to a machete to hack to death a pregnant woman Sunday before he was run over by a man driving a BMW.
The attack took place in the southwestern city of Reutlingen at a kebab shop in a bus station at Listplatz Square.
News media in Germany have been reporting the motive for the attack remains unclear, adding, the incident “did not bear the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.”
Images on social media show the assailant with a bloody forehead but alive on the ground after police arrived on the scene.
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Local media report that the man argued with the woman before attacking her.
Published reports indicate a man driving a BMW was passing the incident and struck him with his car, knocking him to the ground, before police arrived to detain him.
An eyewitness told the German newspaper Bild: “The perpetrator was completely out of his mind. He ran with his machete even behind a patrol car.”
Bjoern Reusch, a spokesman for Reutlingen police, issued a statement indicating the 21-year-old alleged attacker is known to local authorities and was having an argument with the woman who is thought to have been working at the food stand.
“According to the information available, the perpetrator acted alone, the people of Reutlingen and its surroundings are very probably not in danger,” the statement added.
Police say the asylum-seeking Syrian had been involved in previous incidents causing injuries to other people, though they had no immediate information on when those previous incidents occurred.
Germans are suffering from a spree of recent violence. On Friday night, a rampage at a Munich mall left nine people dead.
Last Monday, five people were seriously wounded aboard a train when a Muslim teenager shouting “Allahu Akbar” used an ax and knife to hack passengers aboard a train near Wuerzburg, Germany.
The teen was shot dead by police, and the Islamic terrorist group ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the train attack.
