Syrian refugee arrested after fatal machete attack
— A 21-year-old refugee from Syria killed a woman with a machete in southwestern Germany on Sunday, and was arrested after a motorist deliberately ran him down, according to police. It was the country’s second major act of violence carried out by an asylum seeker in a week.
The man, whose identity was not released, had been involved in at least one previous violent episode, according to officials in Reutlingen, where the afternoon attack occurred near the central bus station.
“At this time, we suspect this crime is linked to relationship troubles,” Michael Schaal, a police spokesperson, said. “Witnesses have told us that before the attack, they had argued.”
Schaal added that authorities had not yet been able to identify the victim.
After attacking the woman, the assailant fled into the street, police said. A motorist who spotted the armed man running down a sidewalk aimed his car at him, knocking him to the ground. Police arrived and quickly subdued the suspect, who was hurt.
Last Monday, a 17-year-old refugee who had come to Germany from Afghanistan as an unaccompanied minor injured four people on a train and a passerby near Wurzburg. He was armed with an axe and a knife.
Syrians accounted for more than a third of the 397,000 applications for asylum in Germany in the first half of this year.