A German police officer who received life-threatening injuries remains in serious condition, police said on Saturday.
Five participants in the rally were also wounded in the attack and taken to the hospital, with some having to undergo emergency surgery, authorities have said, while the suspected attacker was shot by police.
Security sources told dpa news agency the assailant had suffered life-threatening injuries, and a police spokesman said on Saturday that the suspect remained unresponsive following surgery and could not be interrogated as to his motive.
“What we are most concerned about is the question of the motive,” the criminal investigations office in the state of , where Mannheim is situated, said.
The case has now been taken over by anti-terror investigators.
What do we know now?
The injured police officer was stabbed in the back of the head several times, according to authorities.
Among the other wounded was leading Pax Europa member Michael Stürzenberger, his organization has said. The event was part of his “Open Eyes” tour, which organizers say aimed to warn of the dangers of “political Islam.”
Stürzenberger is reportedly out of danger, with the Pax Europa website quoting him as saying that his operation had gone well and giving his best wishes to the injured police officer.
It remains unclear whether other Pax Europa members were injured.
Bavarian security services have accused Stürzenberger of making “Islamophobic statements,” and has classed the organization Pax Europa itself as Islamophobic.
Although police have not identified the suspect, media reports have said he is a 25-year-old Afghan national who lives in the south of the state of Hesse, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Mannheim.
According to German broadcaster SWR, the man has been in Germany since 2013.
tj/wd (dpa, AFP)
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