Hamburg attacker was known to security forces as Islamist - interior minister

Record ID: 904582

  • Title: Hamburg attacker was known to security forces as Islamist - interior minister
  • Date: 29th July 2017
  • Summary: HAMBURG, GERMANY (JULY 29, 2017) (REUTERS) HAMBURG INTERIOR MINISTER ANDY GROTE AND POLICE OFFICIALS AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (German) HAMBURG INTERIOR MINISTER, ANDY GROTE, SAYING: "The attacker was known to security forces. There were indications that there had been a radicalisation and contact with the domestic secret service, and before yesterday's attack he was not considered dangerous. He was registered as Islamist, not jihadist. As Islamist." JOURNALIST TYPING (SOUNDBITE) (German) HAMBURG INTERIOR MINISTER, ANDY GROTE, SAYING: "Regarding the motive, up to this point we can only say that he had religious motives, Islamist motives, but he also appeared to have psychological problems. But it remains unclear what element really led him to do it." NEWS CONFERENCE ON COURSE (SOUNDBITE) (German) HAMBURG INTERIOR MINISTER, ANDY GROTE, SAYING: "We have no indications at the moment that there was a structured network behind (the attack), which makes us believe that it was one attacker with psychological problem." JOURNALISTS NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 12th August 2017 13:03
  • Keywords: Hamburg knife attack known to police Hamburg Islamist attacker Germany knife attack
  • Location: HAMBURG, GERMANY
  • City: HAMBURG, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016RRRDJB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A migrant suspected of killing one person and injuring six others in a knife attack in a Hamburg supermarket was an Islamist known to German security forces, who say they believed he posed no immediate threat, the city-state's interior minister said on Saturday (July 29).
    Hamburg Interior Minister Andy Grote told a news conference that the 26-year-old migrant was registered in intelligence systems as an Islamist but not as a jihadist, as there was no evidence to link him to an imminent attack.
    He also said the Palestinian asylum seeker, who could not be deported as he lacked identification documents, was psychologically unstable.
    Prosecutors said the attacker pulled a 20-centimetre knife from a shelf at a supermarket on Friday (July 28) and stabbed three people inside and four outside before passers-by threw chairs and other objects at him, allowing police to arrest him.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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