WOMAN KILLED IN REFUGEE MACHETE RAMPAGE
A MACHETE-wielding Syrian refugee hacked a pregnant woman to death in a German city yesterday.
The 21-year-old killer wounded two other people before the driver of a BMW drove at him in the street.
Pictures of the man lying in agony on the ground with blood pouring from a head wound were later posted on the internet.
The maniac struck at about 3.30pm yesterday near a bus station in the south-western city of Reutlingen.
The woman he killed was believed to be expecting a child and was understood to have worked as a cleaner at a kebab shop nearby.
He then attacked a second woman and the son of the restaurant owner jumped into his BMW and drove at the killer.
One witness told Germany’s Bild newspaper: “The man was completely out of his mind. He ran with his machete behind a police patrol car which was in the area.
“A BMW driver then accelerated and ran over him. He then lay prostrate on the ground and did not move.”
Reutlingen police said the man was known to them. A spokesman said: “We received several emergency calls at headquarters that a man had quarrelled with a woman in the area of the bus station and she had been injured with a machete.
“The woman suffered fatal injuries. The perpetrator was arrested a few minutes later close to the scene.”
The spokesman added: “The suspect is a 21-year-old asylum seeker from Syria. He is known to the police.”
There was no link between yesterday’s murder and recent atrocities including Friday’s mass killings in Munich and the axe attack on a train in Würzburg last Monday.
The killer’s motive was still unclear last night but police said there was no reason to believe the Reutlingen horror had any link to terrorism.
A police spokesman said: “Given the current evidence there is no indication that this was a terrorist attack.”
Officers stressed that there was no suggestion that the Syrian suspect was anything but a “lone operator”.
A senior officer said: “There is no danger to anyone else at this time.”
One witness described the man as “completely insane” and described how he even tried to attack a marked police patrol car with his machete.
Moments after he was knocked down by the BMW driver, he was pinned to the ground by police. His arms were handcuffed behind his back and an officer stood on his legs to stop him escaping. A machete was recovered nearby.
Police later revealed that the man had a record of violence in the city since claiming asylum.
“A source said he had been involved in previous incidents which left people injured.
Even though the Reutlingen murder has no link to terrorism, it will fuel the sense of anxiety in the country after the Munich mass murders.
Many Germans are fearful of a rise in crime after the country took in a million asylum seekers last year.