Germany Investigators search for background after knife attack in Herdecke
In the case of the knife attack on the newly elected mayor of the West German town of Herdecke in the Ruhr region, Iris Stalzer, the search for the motive and background is ongoing.
08.10.2025, 09:18
SDA
According to investigators, the lawyer's two adopted children, aged 15 and 17, were taken to a police station after the attack to clarify the facts of the case.
Investigators secured evidence in the building until late Tuesday evening. The politician's house was also the scene of the crime, according to the police and the public prosecutor's office. According to the investigators, they are assuming a family background. "According to the current state of knowledge, there are no indications of a politically motivated crime." Security sources said that neighbors claimed to have heard a loud argument between the 15-year-old son and his mother before the crime. The father was abroad at the time of the crime and returned on Tuesday evening.
Are children witnesses or suspects?
According to security circles, the designated mayor of the town on the Ruhr suffered several stab wounds to her upper body. She was first treated at the scene and then flown to a hospital by rescue helicopter. The Social Democrat politician, who had been stabbed several times, was still in mortal danger in the evening.
When asked on Tuesday evening whether both or one of the children were questioned as witnesses or suspects at the police station, a police spokeswoman did not want to give an answer. The children were being looked after, she told the German Press Agency.
