One killed and many injured in Hamburg knife attack - UPDATE: German police tried recruiting attacker as informant

RT
Fri, 28 Jul 2017 20:02 UTC

© Bernd Thissen / DPA / AFP

One person has been killed and several others injured in a bloody knife attack at a supermarket in Hamburg, Germany, according to local police. The suspect has been arrested, however, officials have declined to comment on a possible motive.

"We have no clear information as to the motive or the number of wounded," police said in a tweet.

The attack took place between Fuhlsbüttler and Hermann Kauffmann in the district of Barmbek, Hamburg just after 3pm local time on Friday, reports BILD.

Armed police have set up a security cordon and urged the public to avoid the area as traffic diversions are in place.

The suspect was captured by police a short time after the attack on Hellbrookstraße.

Comment: Previously known to authorities, documented radicalization, mentally unstable, "not considered dangerous". This story is getting old:

Hamburg State Interior Minister Andy Grote said that the knife attacker who fatally stabbed one person and wounded several others in Germany's largest port city on Friday, was actually known to authorities as an Islamist.

Grote told a press conference on Saturday that the man, whose asylum claim had been rejected, was known to have been radicalized.

For some reason, he had not been considered dangerous. The 26-year-old suspect, born in the United Arab Emirates, was "mentally unstable," the minister said.

He had come to Germany as a refugee, but his asylum application was rejected and he should have been deported in the following days, as soon as his papers arrived, Tagesspiegel reported.

Hamburg Police Chief Ralf Martin Meyer said initial findings showed the attacker had acted alone, adding that it could not be completely ruled out that he had accomplices, Reuters reported.

On Friday evening, police searched a refugee camp in the district of Langenhorn, where the attacker is thought to have lived.

Update (July 31): Officials say the suspect, named "Ahmad A.", likely had "radical Islamist motives", but wasn't part of any wider group. The Prosecutor General has opened an investigation, and Ahmad faces charges of murder and attempted murder:

Authorities confirmed after the attack that the suspect was known to have been radicalized, but said that the 26-year-old hadn't been considered dangerous. The investigation now states the man decided two days prior to the attack to launch an assault, hoping to die as a martyr.

According to the latest findings of the investigation, "there is likely a radical Islamist motive" for the assailant, authorities announced.

"According to the investigation so far, it is to be assumed that the suspect radicalized himself. According to [the suspect], he has been dealing with radical Islamist themes for quite some time. Two days before the event, he finally decided to adopt a respective lifestyle. On the day of attack, he had resolved to commit an assault, coupled with the hope of dying as a martyr."

The suspect entered the Edeka chain supermarket at around 3pm on Friday, took a knife with a 20cm blade from the shelves and attacked the nearest customer, who later died from the injuries sustained. Before leaving the supermarket he injured one more person and continued the attack outside, stabbing three others.

With earlier claims stating that the man acted alone and was "mentally unstable," the prosecution says there's so far no evidence to conclude Ahmad A. belonged to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) or any other terrorist group, or had accomplices.

The man, of Palestinian origin, was born in the United Arab Emirates and sought asylum in Germany in 2015. Having had his application rejected, Ahmad A. was supposed to be deported as soon as the papers would arrive, according to German media.

Update (August 5): Why are we not surprised?

German authorities were allegedly aware of Ahmad A.'s extremist tendencies for at least a year and tried to recruit him as an informant before the 26-year-old refugee went on a supermarket stabbing spree in Hamburg last week, killing one and injuring several others.

While investigators had earlier admitted that Ahmad A. was known to have been radicalized, a report in Der Spiegel claims that authorities apparently knew a lot more about the attacker's radicalization tendencies prior to the July 28 attack at the Edeka supermarket.

In June 2016, the State Criminal Police Office (KLA) allegedly tried to recruit the 26-year-old as an informant.

A KLA officer visited the asylum shelter in Hamburg to talk about potential radicalization within the migrant community, Der Spiegel reports. The head of the asylum shelter reportedly informed the officer of Ahmad's odd and potentially dangerous behavior.

The officer allegedly tried to approach the 26-year-old to find out about the "Islamist situation" in Hamburg. However, the attempt proved futile as the man refused to become an informant.

Furthermore, after talking with Ahmad, staff members of the Legato advisory center, which deals with cases of "religious-based radicalization," said they were "overburdened" with the Palestinian who was suffering from "psychological problems."

Der Spiegel further revealed that in September 2016, city authorities received information that the suspect was trying to ascertain the best way to make it into Syria, where he allegedly wanted to join the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group. Following the tip, federal police and border police were alerted of Ahmad's motives.

The publication also said the man did not follow Islam's code of ethics, and was drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis. The attacker also allegedly told an employee of the local café that "terror will come here."
...
Germany's migration office discovered earlier this week that authorities missed a deadline to deport the suspect two years ago. Ahmad, who is of Palestinian origin but born in the in the United Arab Emirates, arrived in Germany via Norway in 2015. The investigation also noted that Ahmad A. claimed that he decided to carry out an attack to die as a "martyr."