German police officer stabbed in city centre on live stream dies from head wounds
Forensics teams at the BPE tent folliowing Friday's attack
Reuters
A police officer who was stabbed by a knifeman in the German city of Mannheim on Friday has died, authorities have confirmed.
The attack, in the city's Marktplatz square, saw a 25-year-old knife-wielding man severely injure six individuals in a shocking attack which was captured on a YouTube live stream.
The assailant was caught on video attacking workers outside a campaign tent for German anti-Islamist campaign group Citizens' Movement Pax Europa (BPE) at 11.30am local time on Friday morning.
The live-streamed footage was uploaded by 59-year-old hard-right German activist Michael Stürzenberger - who "was hit in the leg and face and is undergoing emergency surgery", according to BPE treasurer Stefanie Kizina - as part of "Eyes Open!", an ongoing rally tour for the group.
Forensics teams at the BPE tent folliowing Friday's attack
Reuters
Police had shot and wounded the attacker, though not before he "stabbed the police officer several times in the head", according to a police statement, which added that the officer underwent emergency surgery immediately after the attack and was placed in an induced coma - but succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.
A statement from Mannheim's state Baden-Württemberg's police station - shortly before the police officer's death - read: "The person who attacked several people with a knife on Mannheim's market square yesterday, injuring six of them, some of them critically, is a 25-year-old man born in Afghanistan who has been living in Germany since 2014.
"He is married, has two children and lives with his family in Heppenheim, Hesse.
"During the night of May 31, the flat in Heppenheim was searched by police officers with the assistance of special forces. Electronic data carriers were seized and are now being analysed.
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More images from the aftermath of the attacks in Marktplatz in Mannheim
Reuters
"The suspect, who was injured by a shot fired by a police officer, is in hospital. He is not fit for questioning.
"So far, the man has not been arrested by the police.
"At the request of the Karlsruhe public prosecutor's office, the Karlsruhe district court issued an arrest warrant for attempted murder against the suspect on June 1.
"The other people injured by the suspect are five men aged 25, 36, 42, 54 and 59.
"Among the injured are a German-Kazakh and an Iraqi citizen - the other three people have German citizenship.
"The 25-year-old has since been discharged from hospital, while the other victims are still receiving inpatient treatment. The 54-year-old sustained life-threatening injuries in the attack, but is now out of danger.
"All the injured and their relatives are receiving psychological support from the Criminal and Operational Psychological Service of the State Office of Criminal Investigation.
"The state government's victim representative, former senior public prosecutor Alexander Schwarz, is involved in this process.
"The Baden-Württemberg State Office of Criminal Investigation is conducting a centralised investigation into the knife attack, in particular into the still unclear motive of the suspect, as well as into all related incidents."