Article originally published 24/07/2016: due to a technical issue this article may have resurfaced for some readers, and the original publish date may not have been visible.
A 21-year-old Syrian refugee has been arrested after killing a woman and injuring two other people in a machete attack near Stuttgart.
The attack has taken place in a fast food restaurant in the city of Reutlingen and comes two days after the Munich shopping mall shootings that left nine people dead. But police said the most recent incident did not appear linked to terrorism.
“Given the current evidence, there is no indication that this was a terrorist attack,” a police statement said.
German police said the asylum-seeking man had been involved in previous incidents causing injuries to other people.
A spokesman had no immediate information on when the man arrived in Germany, or when the previous incidents took place.
Bild newspaper reported the victim is believed to be a Polish woman who worked at the restaurant, and may have been pregnant. The paper also reports a witness stating he was “completely out if his mind”.
The assailant was apparently acting alone, the police official said. “There is no danger to anyone else at this time,” he told Reuters. No further details were immediately available.
The attack follows not only the Munich shootings - where an 18-year-old Iranian-German obsessed with mass killings shot dead nine before turning his gun on himself - but a series of incidents across Western Europe.
Last week, German police shot dead a 17-year-old Afghan refugee after wielding an axe and a knife that injured at least four people on a train in Bavaria.
And a Tunisian delivery man drove a large truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera city of Nice, killing 84 people.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for both the Wuerzburg and Nice attacks. German police said the Munich gunman had no connection with militant Islam or the issue of refugees in Germany.