After bloody deed at school: Attackers from Esslingen still at large

At an elementary school in Esslingen, a man stabbed a teacher and a seven-year-old girl with a knife.

After bloody deed at school: Attackers from Esslingen still at large

At an elementary school in Esslingen, a man stabbed a teacher and a seven-year-old girl with a knife. Both are in the hospital, but their lives are not in danger. Meanwhile, there is no trace of the alleged perpetrator. The police are searching hard.

The scene in front of the Katharinenschule looks like a simple exercise. Many police officers are standing in front of the magnificent building on the edge of downtown Esslingen, two ambulances are parked in front of the entrance and barrier tape is fluttering in the schoolyard this morning. There, shortly before, an unknown man came onto the school grounds with a knife, visited the holiday care and stabbed. He injures a 61-year-old teacher and a seven-year-old girl, leaving them bleeding and disappearing.

Even hours after the bloody crime at the elementary school, there is no trace of the man, the police are searching with a large contingent, using sniffer dogs and a helicopter. All unsuccessful so far. Meanwhile, the man's victims are taken to the hospital and treated. They were seriously injured by stabs, but their lives are not in danger, as a police spokesman at the school building emphasized. A knife is later found during a search around the school. However, it is still unclear whether this is also the weapon that the man used in his attack at school.

After the fact, the main questions remain: Who was the man? What was his plan? Was he specifically targeting the woman or child who was at the closed school as part of holiday care? Or were they accidental victims? The supervisor and the child stayed at the closed school as part of the holiday care, it is said after the crime.

"The background and the course of the argument are not yet known," the police said. So far, for example, it is unclear what relationship the woman and the child and the perpetrator have to each other. Witnesses described the suspect as a 30 to 35-year-old man who wore black jeans and a black top with white writing.

In Baden-Württemberg it is currently the Pentecost holidays, and children are being cared for at school. After the crime, the area is cordoned off until midday, and police officers search the building. Anyone who looks around after the crime in front of the school sees the questioning and shocked faces of local residents. "It's scary that something like this happened here," says one of them. It is actually a quiet area, but in the morning he was woken up by a police helicopter. "I can not believe this."

The scene of the crime, the Katharinenschule, is an all-day school on the edge of Esslingen's old town. During school time, a total of 280 boys and girls are cared for in the three classes of the four grades.