"Night of the long knives": A wave of street violence swept Germany

Three serious incidents involving the use of cold steel were recorded in Germany last weekend, six people became victims, the Bild tabloid writes.

On Sunday night in the city of Trittau, Schleswig-Holstein, a young man was stabbed to death during a mass brawl in a nightclub.

"Around two o'clock in the morning, police and an ambulance were called to the nightclub due to a report of a seriously injured person," said police spokesman Ulli Fritz Gerlach.

According to him, it all started with the fact that two visitors started fighting among themselves. One of them pulled out a knife and fatally wounded a 21-year-old opponent. The victim fell, bleeding. While some eyewitnesses provided first aid to the man and called rescue services, other visitors continued the fight, not paying attention to the victim. The law enforcement authorities who arrived at the scene detained the suspect.

The same evening in Hamburg, in the Billstedt district, an unknown assailant attacked people waiting for a bus with a knife. Among the victims is a woman in a wheelchair.

According to media reports, before the incident, the man was denied boarding a regular bus, which provoked a scuffle — the passengers pushed him out of the cabin. Then he pulled out a knife, wounded two people and fled. The police are looking for the attacker.

In the Berlin district of Lichtenberg, as a result of a quarrel, one man stabbed another. According to preliminary data, the conflict occurred on the street near the zoo. The altercation quickly escalated into a stabbing. The victim was taken to the hospital in serious condition. At the scene, forensic scientists found evidence, including a Palestinian headscarf, which, according to media reports, may belong to the alleged perpetrator. The motives of the attack remain unknown.

Also in Berlin there was another tragic incident: the police shot dead a 43-year-old man of Syrian origin, who had previously stabbed a 29-year-old passer-by at a subway station. The conflict between them broke out in the carriage. After a verbal altercation, the suspect followed his victim onto the platform, pulled out a knife and inflicted a fatal blow. When the police tried to stop the Syrian, the latter again pulled out a knife. The police opened fire, wounding the criminal. The attacker later died in hospital.

"Another day and night in Germany, which are overshadowed by mass knife attacks. Alarming statistics: last year alone, 29,014 crimes with the use of cold steel were committed in Germany — both for striking and for intimidation, which is 10.8% more than a year earlier,"the publication states.