One dead and three injured in rampage: German police shoot knife attacker at European Championship party

A suspect armed with a knife killed one man and stabbed three others at a Euro 2024 party in eastern Germany.

The 27-year-old male attacker was subsequently shot dead by police who were called to the scene.

He began his rampage in a garden in the city of Magdeburg, where a family was hosting a private party to watch Germany’s 5-1 victory over Scotland.

At least three people were injured in the attack on Friday evening at around 9.30 p.m. Two of them – a 50-year-old woman and a 75-year-old man – suffered serious injuries. A second man, 56, was slightly injured.

The police have not yet provided any information about the current condition of the victims.

According to local media reports citing police information, the perpetrator was an Afghan citizen.

A police spokeswoman said the attacker targeted the police officers when they arrived at Genossenschaftsweg in Wolmirstedt, Saxony-Anhalt. An officer pulled out his pistol and shot him.

“Firearms were used,” a police spokesman told the Bild newspaper on Saturday morning.

“The perpetrator died in hospital.”

The publication published a picture of a body covered with a blanket being taken away from the crime scene on a stretcher.

The knife attacker is also suspected of having previously murdered another man, 23 years old and also from Afghanistan, in a high-rise building near the site of the family celebration.

The police were alerted when he threatened people in an allotment garden on the way to the party location, reported the newspaper “Magdeburger Volksstimme”.

Germany is on high alert because there are fears that extremists could target the European Football Championship.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said: “We are arming ourselves against all conceivable dangers with maximum deployment of the security authorities.

“Our focus ranges from the threat of Islamist terror to hooligans and cyber attacks. The Federal Police will protect Germany’s borders, airports and rail traffic.”

The German police have set up a command center in the Rhineland city of Neuss, where anti-terror police officers from across the continent will gather to work together to ensure security during the European Championships and their surroundings.

Earlier this month, police arrested a well-known Islamist at Cologne Airport. He was accused of transferring cryptocurrency to an Islamic State cell in Afghanistan.

The suspect, identified only as Soufian T under German data protection law, had reportedly applied for a job as a security guard for outdoor broadcasts of the 2024 European Championship matches, but his application was rejected following a tip-off from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.