Andreas Rabenstein, dpa I Friday, May 5, 2023
BERLIN – After a knife attack at a primary school in the German capital, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office is requesting that the alleged perpetrator be placed in a psychiatric hospital instead of being remanded in prison, a spokeswoman told dpa on Thursday.
The corresponding application would be made to the investigating judge, who would have to decide on it on Thursday, she said.
There are indications that the man suffers from mental impairments, the spokeswoman said. Therefore, the placement in the hospital under order is appropriate instead of pre-trial detention.
The 38-year-old alleged perpetrator is a German who lives in Berlin. There was no further information on the man at first.
According to police reports, two girls aged 7 and 8 were injured in the attack on Wednesday afternoon – one seriously, while the other was initially in danger of dying. On Thursday her condition had improved somewhat. Both were being treated in hospital.
How the crime occurred in the schoolyard of the primary school in the the city’s Neukölln district – named the Protestant School Neukölln and located in Mainz Street – and what the background to the attack was remained unclear at first. The alleged perpetrator was arrested at the scene.
A spokeswoman for the city’s Department for Education said on Wednesday evening that it was assumed that the perpetrator was a single individual. The crime was neither politically nor religiously motivated, and the two injured girls are not related.
According to the local newspaper BZ, the suspect had no relationship to his victims. In the view of the Senate, the city’s executive governing body, the crime was an “absolute isolated case and a tragedy.” Protection against attacks, as good as can be guaranteed, is very good at Berlin schools. However, according to the current state of affairs, the case could not have been prevented.
The staff at Berlin schools are trained for emergencies of this kind. “A residual risk can never be ruled out,” said a spokesperson.
Other pupils had been eyewitnesses to the attack, the spokeswoman said. The attack had taken place in after-school care while the children were playing in the schoolyard, she said.
The school is open this Thursday and Friday as a “meeting place,” but school attendance is not compulsory in light of the attack. Intervention teams consisting of psychologists, therapists and pastors are on duty.
