In Germany there have been two attacks this weekend, one knife attack in Hamburg, and a shooting in a nightclub in Konstanz.

On Friday afternoon, a man has run amok in a crowded supermarket in Hamburg. The offender, who is 26 years old and a Palestinian national with roots from the United Arab Emirates, came to Germany as a refugee, but should have been deported earlier. Because he had no passport to show, this procedure could not have been completed. The Palestinian is said to have connections into the Salafist scene in Germany, but it is very likely that he acted on his own. The man started his rampage in a supermarket with randomly attacking several other customers with a knife and then flew, he injured six men and killed one 50-year-old. There is video footage, which shows the offender on the run being chased by a group of people and witnesses of the dead. On the video, there can be seen that they are throwing chairs and other objects at the perpetrator to put him out of action, while he threatens them with the knife. Arriving police forces could take him into custody, he is now accused of murder, and five times of attempted murder.

On early Sunday morning, there has been the second attack of the weekend. At 4:30 in the morning, a 34-year-old man from Iraq, who has been living in Germany for several years, began to shoot indiscriminately in front of the nightclub Grey in Konstanz, which is located at Lake Constance in the South of Germany. According to public prosecution, the offender is the brother-in-law of the nightclub’s owner and acted out of revenge. He had been in a fight with some staff of the nightclub earlier that night, went home and returned with a M16 assault rifle to shot the bouncer of the club. Seven men were slightly wounded, three were even severely injured, one police officer among them. It is due to the quick response of a new police special intervention team, which also killed the offender in an exchange of shots, that not more guests of the club were hurt. Also considering the weapon, a rifle that is the standard weapon of the US Army, it is “a blessing in disguise that not more people were harmed”, as Interior Minister of the state Baden-Württemberg Thomas Strobl announced.

The offender is already known to the police, he has a criminal record for personal injury and drug-related offence. No other weapons have been found after searching his house, so it has to be investigated how the 34-year-old came in possession of the assault rifle.