A 40-year-old German who killed two people and injured 11 others in Mannheim faces murder charges. Prosecutors say he suffers from a mental disorder.
The trial of a 40-year-old German citizen who rammed his car into people in a pedestrian zone in the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg on March 3, killing two and injuring 11, began at the Mannheim Regional Court on Friday. TASR informs about it with reference to the AFP agency.
- The trial of a 40-year-old German for the attack has begun.
- He was accused of two murders and attempted murder.
- The incident took place in a pedestrian zone in Mannheim.
- The man claims that he suffers from a mental illness, according to the prosecutor’s office, he had no political motive.
- Two people died in the attack, others were injured.
Alexander S. is accused of two murders and several attempted murders. According to the prosecutor’s office, his act did not have a political motive. He claims that the defendant has been suffering from mental illness for years and should have been considered a person of impaired sanity.
The accused entered the pedestrian zone in Mannheim with his car on Pink Monday (the Monday before Ash Wednesday) around 12:15 p.m. At a speed of at least 50 kilometers per hour, he first hit two people who suffered injuries. After traveling a few hundred meters, he ran into a 54-year-old man at a speed of at least 80 kilometers per hour, who died on the spot.
He attempted suicide
The man then rammed into a group of people at a similarly high speed and fatally injured an 83-year-old woman. He then rammed into another group of people, injuring three others, until his rampage was stopped by a taxi driver of Pakistani origin who blocked his way with his vehicle. After getting out of the vehicle, the accused fired a stun gun into the air to scare the taxi driver. He then fled the scene on foot, but the police caught up with him. He then attempted suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with a stun gun.
According to the indictment, Alexander S. intended to kill an unspecified number of people. He shared far-right content on social networks. In 2018, he was fined for adding the comment “Sieg Heil from Germany” to a photo of Adolf Hitler on Facebook. He also posted photos of himself posing with a rifle and standing in front of a Leopard 2 tank. According to SWR television, he attended right-wing party rallies and was interested in music from the National Socialism era.
Another 12 hearing days are scheduled until mid-December. If found guilty, he faces life imprisonment.
