A resident of a refugee shelter knocks on room doors at night and stabs people with a knife. This is how the police describe an incident in which one person was killed and five others injured.

In an alleged knife attack by a resident in an asylum seeker’s accommodation on Lake Constance, a roommate of the man was killed – five other people were injured, some seriously.

The 31-year-old suspect from Nigeria is said to have knocked on several rooms in the accommodation in Kressbronn (Bodenseekreis) on Monday night and then stabbed those present indiscriminately with a knife, as a police spokesman said on Monday. The man was taken into custody, the police and prosecutors announced in the evening

The dead man is a 38-year-old Syrian. According to the information, four women aged 28 to 34 and a 37-year-old man were injured. They are probably roommates, a police spokesman said. But he couldn’t say for sure. One of the injured was taken to a hospital by rescue helicopter. The other injured were taken to hospital by ambulance. According to the announcement, one person was still in a critical state of health in the evening.

Suspect is not unknown

The alleged perpetrator is already known to the police. In May this year, the 31-year-old is said to have rioted in the accommodation and threatened several people with a knife or a similar object, the spokesman said. Then he went to a psychiatric clinic. The investigation into threats and property damage continued, it said. The spokesman could not say since when the man had been living in the accommodation again.

The suspect was reportedly slightly injured in the incident. The spokesman said the injuries were allegedly caused by his own actions. According to the information, the officials arrested him without resistance in front of the asylum seeker accommodation.

Motive still unclear

The motive and the exact sequence of events are still unclear. The Friedrichshafen criminal police are now also investigating the question of how the alleged perpetrator and the injured person knew each other. An investigative team with 25 members has started work. People who were in the accommodation at the time of the crime should be questioned. Specialists in forensic technology secured traces at the scene of the crime until the morning, which the State Criminal Police Office is to evaluate. The body of the 38-year-old should be autopsied on Tuesday.

According to the district office of the Lake Constance district, the accommodation is in two buildings of roughly the same size in the center of the 9,000-inhabitant city. A spokesman said that 46 of the 55 places are currently occupied. There is no security service there.