German police say they have found Islamic State propaganda videos in the possession of the Syrian migrant who stabbed four people on a train earlier this month, indicating a possible extremist motive.
A police search of the 27-year-old Syrian’s apartment revealed that he was in possession of several propaganda videos from the Islamic State terrorist group, the attorney general in Munich said this week.
Initially, investigators had worked on the theory that the Syrian was suffering from mental illness as the motive for the stabbing attack aboard an intercity ICE train near Seubersdorf earlier this month but the discovery of the Islamic state videos has led the Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism (ZET) to become involved in the case, BR24 reports.
Following the attack and the man’s arrest, the Syrian was taken to a psychiatric hospital where an expert stated that he was incapable of guilt over the stabbings due to mental issues. However, the discovery of the videos has led prosecutors to request a new and more detailed expert opinion on the issue.
A total of four men between the ages of 26 and 60 were attacked — allegedly at random — by the Syrian aboard the train on November 6th. According to BR24, all of the men have since recovered from the injuries sustained in the attack, with the final victim being discharged from hospital earlier this week.
If prosecutors determine that radical Islamic extremism was the motivation for the attack it will be the second mass stabbing aboard a German train by an Islamic extremist in recent years.
In 2016, another migrant — a 17-year-old originally from Afghanistan — left four people injured when he attacked people at random with an axe while aboard a train near Wurzburg.
The Islamic State terrorist group took credit for the attack and German police found various pieces of Islamic State material among the possessions of the teen, including the flag of the terrorist group.