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Europe

Krefeld, Germany: German Police Shoot Down Iraqi Arsonist UPDATE: Known nut ran amok, arrived in Germany in 2002

2024-10-11

[KronenZeitung] A previously unknown man who tried to set fire to a cinema in the German city of Krefeld (North Rhine-Westphalia) on Thursday evening was shot and injured by police.

The dramatic scenes took place shortly before 8pm. Guns were fired in front of the moviegoers. Shortly beforehand, the suspect is said to have set fires in three other places. According to the police, these included a vehicle and a house near the train station.

Wie unordentlich.

38-YEAR-OLD WANTED TO SET FIRE IN THE FOYER OF THE CINEMA
The 38-year-old had tried to start a fire in the foyer of the cinema. However, the police officers who were alerted were able to prevent this with their intervention. The man who was shot was taken to hospital, where he is still receiving medical treatment. According to the police, the suspect is a man from Krefeld with Iraqi nationality.

Iraqi? What odds his final appeal for asylum was just rejected, so he decided to go Sudden Jihad Syndrome?

The motive for the crime is still under investigation. According to investigators, however, there are no indications of a terrorist background so far. According to the information available so far, no other people have been injured.

Inspired by this post, I checked Britbart — which has nothing yet — and Deutsche Welle, which adds:

The incident occurred after the man had reportedly set three fires in the Cracau district of the city, police said.

Authorities cordoned off the cinema, which is located inside Krefeld's main train station, and said they do not believe there is any further danger to the public.

Details as to the identity or motive of the man, who investigators say was acting alone, remain unclear.

Local police said they will issue an update on Friday morning.

TRAIL OF DAMAGE
Officers were first alerted at 7:50 p.m. local time after an incendiary device was thrown into the local employment office, about 700 meters away from the cinema and station.

Close by, a white minibus belonging to a local drug outreach charity had two smashed windows and was slightly blackened with soot.

Also nearby, police had cordoned off a building in which a top-floor flat was reported to have been on fire.

From there, the suspect made his way to the station where he was shot by police in the cinema foyer.

And a good time was had by all. Breitbart had this, published two days ago:

Germans Increasingly Worried About Risk of Terror Attacks, Only Israelis Feel More Threatened
The fear of a terrorist attack is soaring among Germans, a pollster finds, a worry rising in parallel with concern about crime and extremism.

Update from WDR Aktuell at noon ET:

A police spokesman said on Friday morning that the suspect was a 38-year-old from Krefeld. The motive is still unclear. In the meantime, however, there are indications of a possible mental illness of the man.

This was also confirmed by NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Friday. "He was known to the police, he was conspicuous and he was in our program area, which deals with the mentally ill." According to information from the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger", the alleged arsonist was already in prison in the past. According to this, he was sentenced to four and a half years by the Krefeld Regional Court in July 2021 for dangerous bodily injury in two cases, resistance to enforcement officers, attempted rape, threat and damage to property.

The first emergency call was received by the police at 7:50 p.m.: Gradually, the officers learned of three different fire sites in the Krefeld district of Cracau. According to the current state of the investigation, the suspect first smashed the window of a car on Schwertstraße and lit it. He then set fire to his apartment, which is also located on Schwertstraße. From there he went to an office building on Philadelphia Street, where he broke a window pane and ignited a fire fire.

The alleged perpetrator with Iranian nationality

…all the other articles thus far say Iraqi, so either that is a typo or updated information…

is currently under medical treatment. At the request of dpa, the NRW Ministry of Refugees in Düsseldorf announced that the 38-year-old had entered Germany for the first time in 2002 "and has a tolerance". According to current knowledge, the Essen police, who took over the investigation, assumes that he is a single perpetrator. A terrorist background is so far excluded.

A cinema employee praised the rapid intervention of the police to a dpa reporter. "Otherwise, this would have been a disaster here," he said. According to his information, about 150 people were in the cinema complex at the time of the crime, spread over several cinema halls. Reul made similar comments on Friday, saying that the situation could have ended "really dramatically". No one was injured in the fires.

Posted by:Elmerert Hupens2660

#3 Just so there is no doubt. Not a single one of them thinks that terrorism and jihad are wrong. The decision is "Should I personally commit a deed." Kinda like we and road rage.

Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2024-10-11 09:14

#2 "so he decided to go Sudden Jihad Syndrome?"

Maybe not so sudden...

Posted by: European Conservative 2024-10-11 06:00

#1 Adding arson to a mix of 'traditional' methods of attack seems to be a new MO.

Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2024-10-11 02:03

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