Young people in Elmshorn: truck attack planned? Investigations are ongoing!

Young people in Elmshorn: truck attack planned? Investigations are ongoing!

In Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, excitement is simmering following the arrest of a 17-year-old suspected of planning an attack. The young person has been in custody since November 7th and the investigations by the Flensburg public prosecutor's office are in full swing. Senior public prosecutor Bernd Winterfeldt confirmed on Monday that an arrest warrant had been issued against the young man, but he held back from providing further details and only spoke of an “attack scenario” that had not yet been precisely outlined.

Shocking plans

According to reports from the German Press Agency, the 17-year-old planned to use a truck for his attack. The public prosecutor's office is investigating the preparations for a serious act of violence that endangers the state. Details about the suspect's nationality and how investigators became aware of him have not yet been confirmed. However, it is known that the young person had already come to the attention of the police this year.

The idea that an attack was planned with a truck brings back bad memories of the terrible attack on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin on December 19, 2016, in which an Islamist terrorist hijacked a truck and raced into a Christmas market. In this gruesome incident, 13 people died and more than 70 were injured. The similarities to this fateful event cast a dark shadow over the current investigation.