Syrian arrested after bloody attack in German bar
German police arrested the suspect in a violent attack on bar patrons in the city of Bielefeld on Monday evening in the city of Heiligenhaus located in the Mettmann district.
The Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, confirmed that the detained individual is the Syrian Mahmoud M., 35 years old, who was wanted under a public search warrant. Reul explained that "meticulous work led to the arrest of the suspect unexpectedly," noting that investigators followed every possible lead since the attack occurred.
Although the suspect was carrying several mobile phones, they were turned off during his escape, making it difficult to track him. However, the police succeeded, by reviewing camera footage at train stations and using tracking dogs, in narrowing down the search area. A relative also contributed important information that helped in locating him.
On Monday evening, three raids were carried out by the Special Operations Unit (SEK) in the Mettmann area, two in Heiligenhaus and one in Velbert, where he was arrested inside an apartment in a high-rise building in Heiligenhaus.
Authorities are now seeking to uncover the motives behind the attack and are investigating the possibility of Mahmoud M.'s links to extremist Islamic circles, and whether the attack has a jihadist nature. A spokesperson for the Bielefeld police indicated that investigators are working quickly to uncover the backgrounds of the incident, while security sources have not ruled out that the case may be handed over to the federal prosecutor due to its seriousness.
According to the preliminary information available, papers bearing names suspected of being linked to extremist Islamic groups were found at his residence in Harsewinkel, but no clear evidence of his extremism has been found yet. Investigations are still ongoing, especially regarding the content of the mobile phones that have not yet been examined, in addition to what he was following online before the attack.
The details of the incident date back to the dawn of Sunday, when Mahmoud M. mingled among the attendees at a party inside the "Cutie" bar in central Bielefeld around 4:20 AM, and suddenly attacked several people with a sharp object. One of the customers managed to catch him, but he slipped away and fled, leaving behind a bag containing his personal documents and a bottle with an unknown liquid that smelled like gasoline.
The available information indicates that Mahmoud entered Germany in 2023 through Turkey, Bulgaria, and other countries, and applied for asylum. In December 2023, he was granted subsidiary protection by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and received a temporary residence permit until the beginning of 2027 from the Foreigners' Office in Gütersloh. He was residing in a refugee accommodation center in Harsewinkel before the attack.