Berlin, Jan 23 (UNI) A two-year-old boy and a man aged 41 have been killed in a stabbing in a German park, media reports said.
Police confirmed that a 28-year-old man from Afghanistan was arrested following the attack in Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg, the BBC reported.
According to media reports, two others were taken to hospital with serious injuries and the public park was cordoned off by officers.
Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria’s interior minister, said the suspect was previously detained at least three times for violent behaviour, but was released after he had psychiatric treatment. He was due to return to Afghanistan after his claim for asylum was rejected.
It is the latest fatal knife attack in Germany in recent months, and comes weeks before a federal election on 23 February.
Police said their investigation into the stabbing was ongoing, but that the attack had taken place at about 11:45 (10:45 GMT) at Schöntal Park in Aschaffenburg, about 22 miles (36 kilometres) south-east of Frankfurt.
The attack involved a kindergarten group and other people were injured, including another child, Herrmann said in a statement near the park, the report said.
Markus Soder, the Bavarian state premier, called it a “cowardly and despicable act”. German reports suggested the suspect had a history of mental health issues.
He added that the boy was of Moroccan descent, and the man killed was a German passer-by “who happened to be at the scene of the crime”.
Mr Soder described the man as “a helper who paid for his civil courage with his own life”.
According to media reports, the suspect was arrested close to the scene. Officers said a second person was initially detained at the scene but was now being treated as a witness.
Officials said a search of his room had not revealed signs of the suspect being motivated by radical Islam.
Police said there was no danger to the public.
The German government has come under increasing pressure to take a harder line on immigration after a number of fatal attacks, and with federal elections due on 23 February, the anti-immigration, far-right AfD is second in the polls.
Five people were killed when a man rammed his car into a crowd at Magdeburg’s Christmas market in December. A Saudi doctor has been charged with the attack.
