Two children aged nine and ten were seriously injured in an attack near a school in Duisburg. Police arrested a 21-year-old man who allegedly attacked the students, authorities in the North Rhine-Westphalian city announced.
Police and the Duisburg Public Prosecutor's Office said the suspect would be brought before a judge on Thursday on suspicion of attempted murder. Police believe he was a lone perpetrator.
Children are no longer in mortal danger
According to information from the dpa news agency, police previously seized a flashlight and a knife as the murder weapon. The suspect hit and stabbed the children – a boy and a girl – with both objects, police said. The crime occurred around noon on a street in a residential area in the Marxloh neighborhood of Duisburg.
After the attack, the two children could have fled to a Catholic elementary school two blocks away. According to police, a teacher came to his aid. They were then taken to the hospital. According to police reports, the lives of the two children are no longer in danger. The investigation into the background to the crime is ongoing.
Support for affected primary schools
In an initial reaction, the Minister of Schools of North Rhine-Westphalia, Dorothee Feller (CDU), was “shocked” by the fact that “two children were victims of an act of violence on their way to school”. In the coming days, the school will be closely monitored by school psychologists.
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“My thoughts are with both children, their parents, family and friends, as well as the teachers at the school,” Feller said. The affected primary school will now receive all the support it needs.
Two children aged nine and ten were seriously injured in an attack near a school in Duisburg. Police arrested a 21-year-old man who allegedly attacked the students, authorities in the North Rhine-Westphalian city announced.
Police and the Duisburg Public Prosecutor's Office said the suspect would be brought before a judge on Thursday on suspicion of attempted murder. Police believe he was a lone perpetrator.
According to information from the dpa news agency, police previously seized a flashlight and a knife as the murder weapon. The suspect hit and stabbed the children – a boy and a girl – with both objects, police said. The crime occurred around noon on a street in a residential area in the Marxloh neighborhood of Duisburg.