Syrian Refugee Commits Deadly Machete Attack in Southern Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) – A 21-year-old Syrian refugee was arrested after killing a woman with a machete and injuring two other people in the southern German city of Reutlingen on Sunday, but police said that the attack had no apparent connection to terrorism.

The asylum-seeking Syrian man had been involved in previous incidents causing injuries to other people, and was apparently acting alone, a police spokesman said.

The spokesman had no immediate information on when the man arrived in Germany, or when the previous incidents took place.

“There is no danger to anyone else at this time,” he said.

It was the fourth act of violence against civilians in western Europe – and the third in southern Germany – in 10 days. Two of the attacks were claimed by Islamic State terrorists.

“Given the current evidence, there is no indication that this was a terrorist attack,” police said in a statement.

In Sunday’s incident, the Syrian man attacked two women and a man at around 4:30 p.m. local time (1430 GMT) near the central bus station in Reutlingen, about 25 miles south of Stuttgart, according to a police statement.

One of the women later died of her wounds. The newspaper Bild said the woman was expectant.

“The attacker was completely out of his mind. He even ran after a police car with his machete,” Bild quoted a witness as saying.

The witness told Bild a private motorist knocked down the attacker soon afterward and he was then taken into custody by police.