by Donald Wood
Last updated: 3:45 PM ET, Fri March 10, 2017
On Thursday night, a man attacked passengers with an ax at a German train station, injuring nine people including two Italian tourists.
According to The Associated Press, the 36-year-old suspect from Kosovo was arrested by police on the scene at Duesseldorf's main train station after he began swinging an ax and randomly attacking people.
The suspect was allegedly sitting on a commuter train when he began attacking passengers as they attempted to run from the Duesseldorf train station. In total, four women, including the two Italian tourists and a 13-year-old child, and five men were struck by the suspect as he swung his ax at the victims.
One of the passengers on the train grabbed the suspect and threw him out of the train as the doors were closing, thus thwarting any further attempts to attack the victims.
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The suspect is currently hospitalized after jumping from a bridge while trying to evade the authorities. Senior police official Dietmar Kneip said that officials do not believe the attack was politically or religiously motivated but suggested the suspect was suffering from psychological problems.
Authorities revealed Friday that the suspect told police he wanted them to shoot him, and Kneip said that a search of the man's residence revealed he had been had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
In addition, prosecutor Martin Stuecke said the suspect came to Germany in 2009 and was granted temporary residency for humanitarian reasons. As a result of the attacks, he will be charged with nine counts of attempted manslaughter.
Thursday's attack comes as German authorities have increased security measures due to a series of recent attacks. Just a short time after the train attack was called into police, heavily-armed officers arrived at the scene as part of the possible extremist attack protocol.
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