Two-Year-Old Child Among Dead in Mass Stabbing at German Park, ‘Afghan’ Knifeman Arrested

( Breitbart )

At least two people have been killed, including a child, in a mass stabbing at a historic but now crime-plagued park in a Bavarian town.

UPDATE 1400 — Slain child two years old, suspect an Afghan national

The latest on the Aschaffenburg park attack is that the two people who were killed were a two-year-old boy suffering “multiple stab wounds” and a 41-year-old man. The arrested suspect is a 28-year-old Afghan male, so says local police in a statement.

The number of “seriously injured” people has been revised up from two to four, including another child and three adults, Germany’s Die Welt relates.

Distressingly, the newspaper states the attack may have been on a group of day-care children who had been taken out to the park for a walk by their teachers. It reports the attacker followed the group, and when they tried to leave the area he attacked, allegedly “specifically targeting the children”.

The deceased adult male is reported to have put himself between the knifeman and the children.

It is further asserted that “The police are said to have ruled out a terrorist background.”

The original story continues below

Police locked down the Schöntal park close to the city centre of the town of Aschaffenburg in Bavaria, Germany around Wednesday midday after “several” people were stabbed. Police later stated two people had died, an adult and a child, and that two people in “serious” condition were receiving hospital treatment.

Initially two suspects were arrested, but one of them was quickly released and treated as a witness. A nearby railway was also shut down as it is reported the suspect attempted to flee over the tracks.

Authorities have not yet made public any information about the background to the attack or any motive of the alleged knifeman. But police say there is no further danger to the public and they believe they are holding the only attacker.

German newspaper Bild states the Schöntal park was reclassified as a “dangerous place” by police late last year due to robberies and drug use in the area. This declaration means it is subject to more frequent police foot patrols which may account for the speed with which the suspect was apprehended, it is stated.