A man has been arrested in a small German town for attacking two children with a knife as they walked to school.
The attack took place in the town of Illerkirchberg in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg at around 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a man attack two schoolgirls, aged 13 and 14, with a knife before fleeing the scene.
Emergency services were called immediately, and the two victims were rushed to the hospital where they remain with serious injuries.
Local police said the children were probably on their way to the bus stop in a neighboring community to attend the nearby secondary school, German tabloid Bild reports.
The attacker is understood to have fled to a neighboring apartment building where he was located by police and arrested, along with three others in the building.
Local press have reported that the residential building in question is currently being used as refugee accommodation, although this has not yet been confirmed by authorities.
Bild reported that that police stormed the building and arrested all residents, including the perpetrator.
There is no clear motive yet for the attack.
“We now have to determine the background exactly,” said police spokesman Wolfgang Jürgens, who refused to elaborate further on the specifics of the attack, but did confirm the victims have “serious injuries.”
