German Train Stabbing Isolated Incident or Undisclosed Terrorist Attack?

At around 5:00 AM On Tuesday, May 9, 2016, a 27-year old German man began stabbing passengers at the Grafing Bahnhof Station. The attacker is believed to have yelled, “Allahu Akbar”, Arabic for “God Is Greater”, and “you are all nonbelievers” before he began his stabbing spree which killed one person and injuring three others, one of which is in critical condition.  Officials said the perpetrator is not believed to have any links to the Islamic State (IS).

The attacker’s name has not been released but the attack has rattled the small of Graff that is a suburb 20 miles southeast of Munich and has a population of 13,000. While the victim’s identities have not been released the first victim a 56-year old male did die from stab wounds when the perpetrator assaulted him as he entered the S-Bahn train. The three other victims were all male, one was stabbed on the train platform and two bicyclists were repeatedly slashed.

A knife with a 10-centimeters blade was used as the weapon and retrieved.

The perpetrator was subdued by train station employees and detained by the police who currently interrogating him. According to Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrman the attacker had no known criminal record and admitted to the police about what he had just done.

Forensic technicians gathered evidence from the crime scene including marking 40 footprints from the perpetrator some of which were barefoot. A mobile phone was also recovered between the tracks and the platform.

Ken Hamada spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s office stated, “The perpetrator made statements at the scene of the crime suggesting political motivation.” The perpetrator was only identified as Paul H. and comes from the town of Giessen in Hessen, reportedly suffered from substance abuse problems.

The suspect believed to be a native German, and not of a migrant background.  Herrmann confirmed the subject had a history of being treated for mental health issues. Police are still questioning witnesses and the Bavarian Criminal Office is leading the investigation.

IS inspired attacks on law enforcement included a February 2016 incident, when a 15-year old IS-inspired girl named Safia S stabbed a policeman in the neck with a kitchen knife during a routine check the Hanover Train station. Prosecutors said she became indoctrinated online by an IS member in Syria.

Last September, an Iraqi man named Rakif Mohamad Yousef stabbed a policewoman in Berlin before being shot to death by another police officer.

During New Year’s Eve two Munich train stations had to be evacuated after reports of a potential IS bomb plot emerged. Last August, two German speaking jihadists claiming to be part of the IS terror network in an online execution video threatened to attack Germany and encouraged “their brothers and sisters” in Germany and Austria to attack the ‘unbelievers.’

Germany is playing a supportive role in the fight against the IS, but has yet to suffer a mass casualty attack carried out by jihadists on a scale similar to France and Belgium. However, Germany has reported that about 260 of 800 German citizens that have gone to fight with the IS have returned. The government has told the public to be vigilant and for security forces to be alert.