After a knife attack, a 14-year-old bleeds to death on the way to school, her friend survives with serious injuries. Two days after the crime in Illerkirchberg, Baden-Württemberg, the people say goodbye. The motive for the crime continues to be a mystery.
Accompanied by tears, sadness and several hundred people, the girl killed in Illerkirchberg was buried in the afternoon. A police spokesman spoke of “an unbelievable number of people” who came to the cemetery to say goodbye to the 14-year-old. Many of the mourners wore a photo of the girl on their jackets. “It was to be assumed that in such a context many people would show their sympathy.” The Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Basar Sen and Illerkirchberg’s Mayor Markus Häußler also attended the funeral service. In order to give people a “feeling of security”, there were also several police officers at the cemetery in Illerkirchberg, the spokesman said.
An asylum seeker from Eritrea is said to have attacked and seriously injured two girls on their way to school in Illerkirchberg near Ulm on Monday. One of the victims later died in the hospital. The autopsy showed that the 14-year-old with a Turkish migration background bled to death after stab wounds. The second girl, 13 years old, suffered serious injuries. The police found a knife on the 27-year-old that could have been used as a murder weapon. An arrest warrant for murder and attempted murder was issued for the suspect. The man was last injured in a correctional hospital.
But how the attack came about, why it hit the two girls and what drove the perpetrator is still unclear. “The investigation is still ongoing,” said a police spokesman. Not to jump to conclusions and not to generalize – the mayor appealed to that. “I ask you to continue to be open to the refugees of all nations living with us and not to place them under general suspicion. The attack on the two girls must be pursued and punished with all consequences – but this insidious crime was not committed by a single person a population group”, wrote Häußler in an open letter to the citizens of his community.
Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl emphasized during a visit to the crime scene on Tuesday that there was no evidence of a political or religious motivation for the crime. After the deadly attack, emergency chaplains continue to support the affected families. “The point is that they get the feeling that they are not alone in these difficult hours,” said Michael Lobenhofer, head of emergency pastoral care in Ulm/Alb-Donau-Kreis. In addition, a person who saw the crime is being looked after.
Parents and teachers also contact emergency pastoral care to find out how to deal with their shattered children. It is then important to point out that people generally live in safety in Germany, but such things happen again and again, emphasized Lobenhofer. One of the tasks of emergency pastoral care is to counteract rumors and half-truths.
