The policeman, who was seriously injured last Friday in the knife attack by 25-year-old Afghan Sulaiman A., finally surrendered. Mannheim. As announced by the Ministry of the Interior and the Karlsruhe public prosecutor’s office, 29-year-old Reuven L. died a short time ago in the Mannheim hospital, where he was hospitalized in an artificial coma, after surgery.

Sulaiman A. had managed to hit the policeman who tried to immobilize him multiple times, injuring him in the back and neck. The attacker had previously injured the politician and well-known critic of Islam Michael Sturchenberger in the face, during an event of the “Pax Europa” Movement in the central square of Mannheim. The politician underwent surgery and is recovering normally. The young Afghan, who has been living in Germany since 2014 and was not known to the authorities until now, was only stopped when one of the remaining policemen shot him and wounded him in the leg. He is also hospitalized, while an arrest warrant has already been issued against him for the attacks.

Its prime minister Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann He said shocked by the development: “Our thoughts are with his family and colleagues. The pain of such a heavy loss to the well-seated is hard to measure. This act makes it abundantly clear to all of us the incalculable dangers that police officers are exposed to every day,” said Mr. Kretschmann and expressed his respect for the police personnel in Baden-Württemberg. “Your service to our state, to our community, to our free democratic order, is invaluable. As a society, we are obliged to show you the highest degree of respect, appreciation and gratitude,” he added.

Earlier today, before the news of the policeman’s death was even known, around 800 citizens had gathered in the square where the incident happened on Friday and, forming a human chain, condemned the violence and hatred.

The motive of the attacker remains unclear, as he is not yet in a position to give a statement to the police. However, as it became known from the local authorities, he had arrived in Germany from Afghanistan as a minor in 2014 and in the meantime has married, had two children and is settled with his family in Heppenheim, Hesse.