A 39-year-old woman is in police custody after being accused of stabbing 18 people at a train station in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday, May 23. Police said the woman was in a state of mental distress during the attack, and they believe it was not politically motivated.
“So far, we have no evidence that the woman could have acted with political motivation,” Hamburg police spokesperson Florian Abbenseth said, according to ABC News. “Rather, we have findings on the basis of which we are now investigating in particular whether she may have been in a state of mental distress.”
A judge will decide whether to admit the woman into a psychiatric ward.
Hamburg police released an updated list of victims, aged 19 to 85. Four victims were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, but police said they were all in stable condition as of Saturday, May 24.
Train station attack
The suspect began stabbing people waiting for the train Friday afternoon, but was stopped by the rapid intervention of two people on the platform, as well as emergency services, police said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the attack was “shocking” and thanked emergency services for “their rapid assistance.”
Germany has been rocked in recent months by a series of violent attacks that put security at the top of the country’s agenda.
Two people died and dozens were injured on Monday, March 3, when a driver rammed into a crowd in Mannheim.
In January, a mother and her daughter were killed during a car ramming attack in Munich, which injured 37 people. In Magdeburg, a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market, claiming six lives and injuring nearly 300 people.
Additionally, in Mannheim, a man stabbed several people at a political rally in June 2024, resulting in the death of a police officer and injuries to five others.
