Children injured

Suspect from Duisburg was considered a high-risk person

At the end of February, a 21-year-old in Duisburg is said to have seriously injured two primary school children with a knife. It has now been made public that the young man was already known to the authorities. He had already been classified as a high-risk person for several months last year, according to a report to the Committee on Internal Affairs.

In February 2023, he announced to a doctor that he was planning an act of violence against his own mother. As a result, he was included in the Periscope early warning system (people with risk potential), according to the report. After an interim reconciliation and subsequent non-violent cohabitation with his mother, he was classified as a high-risk person again in October 2023. In January 2024, two cases of violence against his mother finally came to light.

Allegedly announced murder
The man is also said to have announced a murder to a witness in Bavaria in a chat. However, this information did not reach the police in Duisburg in time. "We had - according to the current reporting situation - no information whatsoever," said Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) from North Rhine-Westphalia. In any case, an investigating judge wanted to reach the police by telephone and inform them. Why this did not work out is currently being investigated.

The violent 21-year-old is suspected of attempting to murder two primary school children at the end of February (see video above). The children, aged nine and ten, were seriously injured by stab wounds. They were able to escape to a nearby school.