Berlin - An off-duty police officer and two other passengers on a regional train in Germany overpowered an Iraq-born 31-year old attacker, who wounded five people including the officer with a knife on Friday, authorities said.

A top law enforcement official said the attacker is under investigation for possible extremism while living in a refugee hostel in 2017.

Four of the injured were treated in hospital for wounds to their hands or face and head, one victim had been stabbed in the shoulder blade. None are known to be in a life-threatening condition. The attacker also injured, was taken to a clinic.

The train had just pulled out of the station at Herzogenrath near the border with the Netherlands and was heading for the western German city of Aachen at 7:42 a.m. local time. The man began attacking fellow passengers “randomly and arbitrarily,” state interior minister Herbert Reul said. He praised the courage of the 60-year-old off-duty officer and passengers who had “prevented worse harm.”

The man underwent a police check for possible extremism in 2017 after the refugee hostel where the man was living reported that he had changed his behavior and isolated himself from his fellow residents.

German news agency dpa quoted Aachen prosecutors saying they had no hard evidence so far that the attack was motivated by extremism. However, there were signs the man may have been suffered from diminished responsibility because of psychological problems.
-AP