In a joint statement released late on Sunday, police and prosecutors revealed that a German police officer, who had been stabbed multiple times on Friday while attempting to pull someone away from a knife attack in Mannheim, had died from his wounds.
After the attack, the 29-year-old officer was in a coma and was being treated at the hospital.
“He underwent an emergency operation immediately after the crime and was put into an artificial coma, but succumbed to his serious injuries late in the afternoon on Sunday, June 2,” the joint statement said. “We mourn a police officer who gave his life for our safety.”
What do we know about the suspect?
At a booth in the city centre, a 25-year-old man was caught on camera stabbing a police officer and five members of an anti-Islamic group known as PAX Europa. Michael Stürzenberger, a member of the group’s advisory board, was among those hurt.
According to prior reports from investigators, the suspect is an Afghan national who has lived in Germany for about ten years. They claimed he had no criminal history and had never before drawn the notice of law enforcement.
Police eventually fired a shot at the suspect. He was still alive as of Saturday night, but detectives said he was unfit to be questioned because he was in the hospital. Therefore, they claimed, more research was necessary to determine his motivations and the cause of his attack.
Politicians pay tribute, police union warns of ‘daily’ violence
The news that the officer had passed away “deeply dismayed” Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“His dedication to everyone’s safety deserves the very highest respect,” Scholz stated.
The news “shocks me to the core,” stated Winfried Kretschmann, the state premier of Baden Württemberg, the region that includes Mannheim. He also sent his sympathies to the victim’s friends, family, and coworkers.
“This awful crime puts the often incalculable risks police officers are exposed to daily painfully before our eyes,” Kretschmann stated. “We owe them the highest respect and reverence as a society.”
According to Thomas Strobl, the state minister of interior, “these are moments where the world seems to stand still.”
“He sacrificed his life because he intervened to safeguard others,” Strobl remarked of the 29-year-old policeman. Other local officials hurried to offer comparable tributes.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the state chapter of one of the major police trade unions in Germany expressed dissatisfaction as well as sadness.
“The violence that we face daily is merciless, brutal, inhuman and often fatal,” said Ralf Kusterer.
Mannheim police back in action in city centre
At least three public protests in reaction to the incident took place on Sunday, and cops were once again seen in large numbers in central Mannheim.
According to the police, a cross-party group that advocated for a human chain to be created against violence and hatred across a large portion of the city centre drew between 800 and 1,000 participants.
Simultaneously, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) youth wing staged a protest in the market square with about 150 participants, using the slogan “remigration would have prevented this crime,” which alludes to the party’s preferred word for the forcible return of individuals with migrant backgrounds.
Additionally, there was an unplanned, impromptu counter-demonstration by left-wing antifascist activists. Law enforcement said that the purpose of enclosing or “kettling” these demonstrators—who were observed fighting with police—was to prevent them from harming the far-right protestors.
“Around 15:15, a group of people, some obscuring their faces, tried to disturb the gathering at the market square and violently advance on them. Some of these people were armed with torches. The attack on the market square could be prevented by a swift police intervention. In this context it was necessary to use pepper spray,” Mannheim police said of the incident.
The 40 participants in the counter-protest had their details removed, according to the police. A person was under investigation for a possible attack on a police officer.
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