German police kill Afghan teen after train axe attack
German police have shot dead a 17-year-old Afghan after he attacked passengers on a train with an axe and a knife, seriously wounding three people, officials said.
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Several other people were also injured in the attack on a regional train near the southern city of Wuerzburg, police said, adding that the teenager was killed as he tried to flee.
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Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister of Bavaria state, said the attacker was a 17-year-old Afghan who had lived in nearby Ochsenfurt. The attack happened around 9:15 pm (1915 GMT) last night on the train, which runs between Treuchlingen and Wuerzburg in Bavaria.
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"Shortly after arriving at Wuerzburg, a man attacked passengers with an axe and a knife," a police spokesman said. "Three people have been seriously injured and several others lightly injured."
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He added: "The perpetrator was able to leave the train, police left in pursuit and as part of this pursuit, they shot the attacker and killed him."
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There were no further details on the circumstances of the teenager's death, and police declined to suggest what the motive was for the attack.
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"At this time everything is possible," the spokesman said.
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In May, a mentally unstable 27-year-old man carried out a similar knife attack on a regional train in the south, killing one person and injuring three others.
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Early reports suggested he had yelled, "Allahu akbar" ("God is greatest" in Arabic) but police later said there was no evidence pointing to a religious motive. He is being held in a psychiatric hospital.