Shocking scenes unfolded across Germany on Wednesday, exposing a new “normal” that threatens to become routine. In Bavaria, an Afghan man chased passengers and schoolchildren with a knife at Ruhpolding railway station. In Dresden, a Turkish man opened fire on police officers outside a supermarket. And in Trier, an Afghan man fatally stabbed a 22-year-old German student near the university.
The incident in Ruhpolding occurred at the railway station that morning. CCTV footage shows the man brandishing a knife, lunging at passers-by, attempting to stab one man and chasing people around the station grounds.
According to police, no one was injured. Passengers managed to escape unharmed. Schoolchildren at the station fled the scene and sought shelter in a bakery.
One witness said the Afghan man had already become aggressive on the train, shouting and causing a disturbance. When railway staff intervened, he drew a blade inside the carriage. Police arrested him and are, for now, investigating him on suspicion of making threats.
Gunman Shouts “Allahu Akbar” Before Firing at Police
Also on Wednesday morning, a major police operation unfolded in Dresden-Friedrichstadt in eastern Germany. A 41-year-old Turkish man fired at police officers outside a supermarket with a musket-like rifle.
Video footage shows the man repeatedly shouting “Allahu akbar”, placing the incident in an overtly political and terrorist context.
The officers returned fire, wounding the suspect. He was taken to hospital. No police officers or passers-by were injured.
The man is now being investigated on suspicion of making threats and violating weapons laws. Neighbors said the 41-year-old had behaved erratically in the past. A fitness trainer from the man’s apartment block told German media that the suspect had previously threatened him and his wife and had called himself a “warrior of God”.
Student, 22, Fatally Stabbed Near Trier University
In the western city of Trier, a 22-year-old German student was stabbed on Robert-Schuman-Allee near the university later that morning. Witnesses alerted police at around 9:55 a.m. The attacker fled the scene.
Paramedics attempted to resuscitate the student before taking him to hospital. He died a short time later of his injuries. Police soon arrested an Afghan man of the same age who lives in Trier.
A homicide unit is now investigating the motive, the sequence of events and the weapon used.
Several witnesses to the attack were cared for by emergency counselors. Trier University issued a statement of condolence, saying the student’s death had left a painful void in the university community.
The Trier branch of the Christian Democratic Union described the killing as yet another brutal knife attack in Germany and said there was an “urgent need for action”.
After three such attacks in Germany in a single day, few are likely to disagree. Passengers and schoolchildren aboard trains and at railway stations, students on their way to university and supermarket customers at 10 in the morning – all now face the risk of becoming random victims of deadly violence.