Police puzzled over motive for knife attack that left three women dead in German town of Wuerzburg
- Officials said the suspect, from Somalia, did not have a criminal record but had spent time in a psychiatric hospital earlier this year
- On Friday, the suspect grabbed a knife in a department store and fatally stabbed three women, before continuing to attack people outside
The suspect in a knife attack in southern Germany that left three women dead was ordered kept in custody Saturday on suspicion of murder, while authorities puzzled over a possible motive, examining his mental health and seeking to determine whether he was radicalised.
The attack started late on Friday afternoon when the suspect walked into a department store in Wuerzburg, went to the household goods department and asked a saleswoman where the knives were, regional police chief Gerhard Kallert said.
He then grabbed a knife and fatally stabbed three women in the store, before continuing to attack people outside. Six people, most of them women, were seriously injured, and one of them remained in a life-threatening condition on Saturday.
Videos posted on social media showed people surrounding the attacker and trying to hold him at bay with chairs and sticks. The 24-year-old Somali was then stopped with a shot to the leg by police and arrested.
On Saturday, he was brought before a judge, who ordered him held in jail pending a possible indictment on suspicion of three counts of murder, six of attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm; and another of bodily harm.