- Resident stabs people in refugee shelter
A knife attack at a refugee home in Berlin-Marzahn left seven people injured, according to police. A resident was arrested. The 21-year-old suspect, according to police, struck and stabbed several people. Along with a security guard and a visitor to the community shelter on Bitterfelder Street, five residents were injured, including a 15-year-old girl. Some victims also sustained cuts. No life-threatening injuries were reported initially.
The suspected attacker, an Algerian, was also injured. The motive for the attack remains unclear. According to initial police findings, the 21-year-old got into a fight with a visitor outside the home before the incident and allegedly struck the 38-year-old. The 62-year-old security guard tried to intervene but was also struck. The 21-year-old then reportedly left but soon returned to the courtyard, where he allegedly attacked several people in a group of about 20.
Police were alerted around 10:40 PM. The suspect complained of upper body pain during his arrest and was initially treated at a clinic before being taken into police custody. The victims were treated by paramedics and doctors at the scene and then taken to hospitals. An emergency helicopter was also deployed, as seen in photos from the scene. The "Berliner Kurier" and "B.Z." reported on the incident.
The suspect has so far been "completely unremarkable," a spokesman for the State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF) said. According to the records of the shelter, the Algerian is 23 years old and was tolerated. "He was at risk of deportation," the spokesman explained.
There were differing reports from police and LAF on the number of injuries and the ages of the victims. Police reported a total of eight injured, including the suspect, while LAF reported seven. Police identified the injured residents as a 15-year-old girl, two 20-year-old women, and two men aged 42 and 42. The differing information is being reviewed, a police spokeswoman said.
The attack has caused unrest in the shelter, the LAF spokesman said. The operator has sent a larger team to the scene to calm the situation.
In recent days, there have been several knife attacks in Berlin with serious injuries and one fatality. The number of attacks and threats involving knives has been increasing in the crime statistics in recent years, with men and male youths being the main perpetrators.
Faeser wants to ban certain knives
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) wants to tighten the weapons law and ban certain knives. In public, knives would only be allowed to be carried up to a blade length of six centimeters instead of the current twelve centimeters. There would be a general ban on carrying dangerous switchblades. Police unions have called for a general ban on carrying knives in public.
In Berlin, the black-red coalition is planning to introduce so-called knife ban zones in areas particularly affected by crime, where the police will be allowed to conduct random checks to see if people are carrying weapons. "We have a clear agreement in the coalition contract and are currently creating the legal basis to temporarily enable knife ban zones," announced Burkard Dregger, the interior spokesman for the CDU faction, at the beginning of the week in the "Tagesspiegel".
The regulation is part of the planned reform of the General Security and Public Order Act (Asog), which the CDU and SPD are currently working on. According to Dregger, the law is set to be passed by the House of Representatives this year.
State Secretary for the Interior, Christian Hochgrebe, said in the RBB's "Abendschau" that the number of knife attacks in public spaces has increased, especially with severe injuries, which is a worrying trend. "Therefore, it is right and important that we examine how we can effectively combat this phenomenon and exhaust the legislative scope," he said. The exact locations of the zones will have to be carefully considered.
Hochgrebe dismissed the argument that the police might be overburdened by necessary checks: Every crime prevented in a knife ban zone would significantly relieve the police and emergency services and would also be a positive sign for society.
The Greens expressed skepticism and pointed out that random checks could also target law-abiding citizens. The AfD called the plan "symbolic politics" in the RBB.
The attack occurred at the refugee shelter located on Bitterfelder Street. Following the incident, additional security measures were implemented at the shelter to ensure the safety of its residents.
