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Ibrahim A. (33, left) ran amok on a train in Germany: Here he is led by an official.
Assault, credit card fraud, sexual assault: The list of crimes that the knife attacker from Brokstedt (D) is accused of is long. One word in particular is found again and again in the criminal file: physical harm. Before he killed two passengers on the train with a knife and seriously injured seven people, Ibrahim A.* (33) repeatedly got into trouble with the law. An overview.
Ibrahim A. (33) arrives in Germany on Christmas Eve 2014, and the man’s criminal file begins just a year later, as “Welt” reports: the police are investigating in Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, then the home of the stateless Palestinian shoplifting against the 33-year-old. According to “Spiegel”, he is said to have stolen a perfume worth 30 euros. In Bonn, the officials are also investigating. It’s about card fraud.
In 2016, A. was investigated for the first time because of dangerous bodily harm – and in two cases in Euskirchen and Bad Münstereifel.
2018: Sexual Assault
The criminal file continues in 2018, again A. is accused of bodily harm, this time in Cologne. And right at the beginning of the year he was caught with a gram of cocaine and had to pay a fine. A year later, a new offense is added: He is accused of sexual assault, again in Euskirchen. Three years before the crime, the police suspected A. of damaging property. In addition, there are investigations into bodily harm in Bonn, as well as two proceedings for bodily harm and threats in Euskirchen.
Minister of the Interior on the attack: “Ibrahim A. has committed several criminal offenses”(01:06)
Around six years after entering the country, on December 1, 2020, A. left the district of Euskirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia. The following summer, he turns up in the northern German city of Kiel. It is unclear where A. was previously.
In Kiel, A. is quartered in a communal accommodation facility for refugees. The “world” writes that A. already grabbed the knife here. “He threatened other residents with a kitchen knife in a hallway,” the newspaper quoted a spokeswoman for the Kiel city administration as saying. Finally, the man, who was born in Gaza, was banned from entering the home.
2021: Iron Bar Attack
He ends up on the street – and apparently makes the decision to move to the Hamburg area. According to “Bild”, A. is said to have hit the Drob Inn drug advice center on December 16, 2021 with an iron bar. He is then noticed for shoplifting.
On January 8, 2022, he is said to have been on record with a simple physical injury. On January 18th, a dispute broke out between A. and a homeless person at the HerzAs care center for the homeless. A. is said to have pulled a knife and stabbed his victim. The man suffered lacerations to his head. According to “Spiegel”, A. stated that he had consumed whiskey, heroin and cocaine.
On January 20, 2022, a conflict breaks out at the Drob Inn, again A. is involved. He hits a man in the head several times with a jackknife. The police arrest Ibrahim A. On August 18, 2022 he was arrested for dangerous bodily harm and should be behind bars for a year and a week. On June 15, he first attacked a fellow prisoner before attacking a prison officer at Billwerder prison on September 2.
2023: Regional train attack
Despite everything, he was released on January 19 of this year, just a few days before the knife attack, leaving two dead and seven injured. “It was foreseeable that an appointment for the main appeal hearing would not be possible before the length of the pre-trial detention would reach the length of the prison sentence to be served when it became final, i.e. the convicted person would be in pre-trial detention for longer than his sentence would last at most,” explains Kai Wantzen, spokesman for the Hamburg court against “Bild”.
For reasons of proportionality, the regional court canceled the arrest warrant on January 19, 2023, so that the convicted person was released after a year in custody. Almost a week later, A. kills two people on the train and attacks other passengers. In the meantime, Ibrahim A. is in custody again – and is silent. He is accused of double murder and multiple attempted manslaughter. (nad)
* Name known