Rampage at Düsseldorf train station Attacker was psychologically disturbed
Düsseldorf · Nine people were injured at Düsseldorf train station on Thursday night when a psychologically disturbed man went on a rampage with an ax.
Four persons suffered serious head wounds. Italian tourists were among the injured. A 36-year-old Kosovar migrant was taken into custody by police following the attack. He apparently came to Germany in 2009 and lived in Wuppertal. Police found a medical document in his apartment which stated that he had been diagnosed with “paranoid schizophrenia.” His brother reported that he had purchased an ax the week before because he felt he was being followed. Following the attack, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor’s office said he had been admitted to a psychiatric clinic.
The victims were between 13 and 50-years-old and included two Italian tourists. None of them suffered life-threatening injuries. The 36-year-old might have gone on attacking in the local train but a passenger pushed him out the door when it was standing at the Düsseldorf central train station, and the driver quickly closed the doors.
At 8:54 pm, the first emergency calls came in to authorities. The suspect reportedly began attacking passengers as the local train arrived in Düsseldorf’s central train station. He is said to have swung at them “from behind” as they were leaving the tram, according to senior police official Dietmar Kneib. A courageous passenger then pushed the attacker out of the train, and a quick-responding driver closed the doors, preventing the rampage from continuing inside the train.
After police began to give chase, the 36-year-old fled over the tracks and to a bridge directly near the train station. Federal police say he jumped from the bridge while trying to escape and suffered broken bones. In a short questioning when he was being taken into custody, the suspect told Kneib, “it was his intention that the police would stop him with their weapons.” (Orig. text: Frank Christiansen, Richard Heister)
