A Syrian migrant who attacked passengers with an axe and hammer aboard a German high-speed train has avoided prison after a court ruled that he was not criminally responsible because of schizophrenia.
The Regensburg Regional Court instead ordered the 21-year-old to remain in a psychiatric hospital, concluding that he was suffering from severe delusions when he launched the attack on an ICE train in Lower Bavaria on July 3, 2025.
Two passengers suffered serious head injuries, and the presiding judge said it was only by chance that nobody was killed. The ruling is not yet final and subject to appeal.
According to the court’s reconstruction reported on by Die Zeit, the attacker first approached a 25-year-old Syrian passenger who was traveling to Passau with his mother and younger siblings. He stared at the man before walking through the carriage carrying an axe and hammer.
The family became alarmed by the suspect’s behavior, and the mother asked another passenger to call police. While the 29-year-old was making the emergency call, the attacker struck him in the head with the axe, leaving him unconscious with a fractured skull.
The assailant then moved toward the family and struck the 52-year-old mother twice in the head, also fracturing her skull. Her son managed to seize the axe and hit the attacker in self-defense, seriously injuring him.
A recording of the emergency call was played during the trial. The caller can be heard warning police about a man with an axe before saying that the attacker was standing beside him. A blow and screams then follow before the caller stops responding.
The defendant apologized to the injured passenger after hearing the recording but otherwise remained silent throughout the court hearing.
According to Welt, the court considered charges including attempted manslaughter and aggravated assault, but found that the man could not be held criminally responsible because of his mental illness.
The judge said he had developed schizophrenia after arriving in Austria as an unaccompanied minor following a three-year journey through Turkey and Greece. He reportedly heard commanding voices and believed that criminal groups were pursuing him.
At the time of the attack, he believed he was under threat and acting in self-defense. The court also linked his purchase of the weapons shortly before the train journey to those delusions.
Investigators found no evidence that the attack was politically motivated, including during an examination of his phone.
Prosecutors, defense lawyers, and representatives of the victims all supported continued psychiatric confinement. The court said the Syrian national still poses a serious risk of further violence and must remain in secure treatment.
