2023 Brokstedt stabbing

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Brokstedt stabbing

| location = Brokstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

| date = 25 January 2023

| time = 02:55 p.m.

| timezone = CET

| type = Mass stabbing

| weapons = Kitchen knife

| fatalities = 2

| injuries = 6 (including the perpetrator)

| victims =

| motive = Anger and frustration at his personal situation

| convicted = Life

| verdict = Guilty

| charges = Two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder

| judge = Johann Lohmann

}}

On 25 January 2023, a mass stabbing occurred on a Regionalbahn train in Brokstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Two persons were killed, while eight others were injured.

The perpetrator had arrived in Germany in 2014 and was granted subsidiary protection in 2016, even though he had been known to police. The public prosecutor saw the motive for the crime as anger and frustration with his personal situation. In February 2023, "considerable shortcomings in the communication and administration of the authorities involved in immigration" were found.

Attack

The RB train RE 70 number 11223 was a passenger train which departed from Kiel with the destination of Hamburg. At the time of the attack, the train carried about 70 passengers.{{cite web |date=25 January 2023 |title=Two dead and seven injured after man stabs passengers on German train |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2023-01-25/two-dead-and-five-injured-after-man-stabs-passengers-on-german-train |access-date=25 January 2023 |website=ITV News}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-05-02 |title=Messerangriff in Regionalzug: Lebenslang für Ibrahim A. gefordert |url=https://www.rnd.de/panorama/messerangriff-in-regionalzug-lebenslang-fuer-ibrahim-a-gefordert-VAV2IYPY25NUVNJRNKDS44WKUQ.html |access-date= |website=RND |language=de}}

Shortly before the train was about to pull into Brokstedt train station at 2:54 p.m., passengers noticed the perpetrator taking off his jacket and doing stretching exercises, before he went to stand in a doorway, actively blocking others from exiting. When the train came to a halt, the perpetrator began indiscriminately stabbing fellow passengers with a knife he had hidden in a sports bag. The first emergency calls came in at 2:56 p.m.{{Cite web |last=Schumacher |first=Julia |date=17 July 2023 |title=Zeugin im Brokstedt-Prozess zu Messerattacke: Er hat gegrinst |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Zeugin-im-Brokstedt-Prozess-zu-Messerattacke-Er-hat-gegrinst,brokstedt302.html |access-date= |website=NDR |language=de}}

As the attack happened immediately before a scheduled stop, the train's doors were automatically opened to the platform, where around 50 people were present. The perpetrator and an injured woman exited the cart, with the former reentering the train through another entrance. Inside, the perpetrator attacked Felix Gerike, who had boarded the train in search of a first aid kit, leading to a struggle. Gerike was stabbed and slashed ten times and bitten on the nose before he managed to restrain his attacker by the wrists.{{Cite web |last= |title=Brokstedt-Prozess: Sachverständige schildern Verletzungen der Opfer |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Brokstedt-Prozess-Sachverstaendige-schildern-Verletzungen-der-Opfer,brokstedt352.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=NDR |language=de}}{{Cite web |date=2025-04-23 |title=Felix Gerike hat die Messerattacke von Brokstedt gestoppt |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/felix-gerike-hat-die-messerattacke-von-brokstedt-gestoppt-110424694.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=FAZ.NET |language=de}} Other bystanders grabbed the perpetrator from behind and were able to disarm him before the perpetrator fled the train.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-02-08 |title=Ministerin: Kennen noch nicht alle Details des Tatablaufs |url=https://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/article237581055/Ausschuss-beschaeftigt-sich-erneut-mit-Messerangriff.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=Hamburger Abendblatt |language=de}}

By the time police arrived at around 3:05 p.m., several commuters had fixated the perpetrator to the ground on the train platform.{{Cite web |title=Germany: 2 killed, several injured in train knife attack – DW – 01/25/2023 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-2-killed-several-injured-in-train-knife-attack/a-64513554 |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=dw.com |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Schuetze |first=Christopher F. |date=2023-01-25 |title=Suspect Arrested in Deadly Stabbing of 2 on Train in Germany |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/world/europe/germany-train-stabbing.html |access-date=2023-01-25 |issn=0362-4331}} The station was shut down to facilitate the ongoing emergency response efforts. The perpetrator was injured himself, was arrested and taken to hospital.

Victims

Two people were killed and five were injured, three critically and two with life-threatening wounds.{{Cite web |last=Steinlein |first=Stephan |date=2024-05-18 |title=Messerattacke von Brokstedt: Die Opfer leiden lebenslang |url=https://www.abendblatt.de/region/schleswig-holstein/article242359642/Messerattacke-von-Brokstedt-Die-Opfer-leiden-lebenslang.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=Hamburger Abendblatt |language=de}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/schleswig-holstein-magazin/brokstedt-prozessauftakt-fuenf-monate-nach-der-messerattacke/ndr/Y3JpZDovL25kci5kZS8zNzc4M2ViZi1hNjI3LTRhZDgtOTk2ZC04ZTdkOGJmZTY1NmI |title=Schleswig-Holstein Magazin: Brokstedt: Prozessauftakt fünf Monate nach der Messerattacke - hier anschauen |language=de |access-date=2025-06-17 |via=ARD Mediathek}}{{Cite web |last=Wüstenberg |first=Daniel |date=26 January 2023 |title=Tödlicher Messerangriff: Täter konnte nicht abgeschoben werden – Innenministerin Faeser will Brokstedt besuchen |url=https://www.stern.de/panorama/verbrechen/brokstedt-messerattacke--die-pressekonferenz-der-behoerden-im-liveblog-33138478.html |website=Stern}} The deceased victims were identified as a romantic couple, 17-year-old Ann-Marie Kyrath and 19-year-old Danny Preuß, both from Neumünster.{{cite web|url=https://www.20min.ch/story/paerchen-17-und-19-getoetet-sie-waren-erst-seit-einer-woche-zusammen-532603948771|title=Pärchen (17 und 19) getötet – sie waren erst seit einer Woche zusammen|work=20 Minuten|date=28 January 2023}}{{Cite web |last=Bellinger |first=Ines |last2=Tchernomordik |first2=Sofia |last3=Scheper |first3=Benedikt |date=16 May 2024 |title=Messerattacke von Brokstedt: Ibrahim A. - Behördenversagen, gescheiterte Integration, unermessliches Leid |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Toedliche-Messerattacke-von-Brokstedt-Protokoll-des-Versagens,brokstedtdoku100.html |access-date= |website=NDR |language=de}}{{Cite web |last=Rudolf |first=Christian |date=2023-02-11 |title=Interview Heiko Kiehn: "Damit wir im Tod nicht untergehn" |url=https://www.corrigenda.online/kultur/interview-heiko-kiehn-damit-wir-im-tod-nicht-untergehn |access-date= |website=Corrigenda |language=de}} Kyrath was stabbed 27 times while Preuß was stabbed 12 times, dying after a single stab wound to the heart while attempting to shield his girlfriend.{{Cite news |last= |date=2023-12-19 |title=Messerattacke: Sachverständige schildern Verletzungen im Brokstedt-Prozess |url=https://www.zeit.de/news/2023-12/18/sachverstaendiger-soll-im-brokstedt-prozess-aussagen |access-date=2025-06-17 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}}{{Cite web |date=2024-05-15 |title=Messerangriff von Brokstedt: Mordlust als mögliches Motiv |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/kriminalitaet/messerangriff-von-brokstedt-mordlust-als-moegliches-motiv-19718762.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=FAZ.NET |language=de}} Three of those stabbed were passengers on the train while two had boarded after the attack began. Three of the injured had to be put into an artificial coma after the attack. One of the severely injured, a 54-year-old woman who had previously been diagnosed with chronic depression, died by suicide four months after the stabbing.{{Cite web |title=Brokstedt: Durch Messerattacke verletzte Frau nimmt sich das Leben - WELT |url=https://www.welt.de/regionales/hamburg/article245837794/Brokstedt-Durch-Messerattacke-verletzte-Frau-nimmt-sich-das-Leben.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=DIE WELT |language=de}}

Perpetrator

The perpetrator was 33-year-old Ibrahim A., a stateless refugee originally from the Palestinian territories. He was born in 1989 as one of seven children in the Gaza Strip, where he worked as a fisherman and construction worker. Following the deaths of his parents in 2010 and 2012, Ibrahim A. left Gaza, claiming Hamas had theatened his life since he did not closely observe his Muslim faith.{{Cite news |last=Jüttner |first=Julia |date=2024-05-02 |title=(S+) Zug-Attentäter von Brokstedt: Ein gesunder Mensch tut so etwas nicht – oder? |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/brokstedt-messerangriff-ein-gesunder-mensch-tut-so-etwas-nicht-oder-a-b8f0e323-0de0-44f3-8e94-e39ca1dccef1 |access-date=2025-06-17 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}} Hamas had previously killed one of his uncles and also tortured A. and other relatives with burns and cuts.{{Cite news |last=Lehberger |first=Roman |last2=Siemens |first2=Ansgar |last3=Wiedmann-Schmidt |first3=Wolf |last4=Ziegler |first4=Jean-Pierre |date=2023-01-26 |title=(S+) Brokstedt: Die blutige Spur des Ibrahim A. |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/brokstedt-die-lange-blutspur-des-ibrahim-a-a-f8f7dc84-4d80-4c44-bfda-259db5e493bb |access-date= |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}

Via Turkey and Belgium, he arrived in Germany on 24 December 2014 and applied for asylum on 22 January 2015 in North Rhine-Westphalia, citing persecution by Hamas. He lived in Bad Münstereifel, where a social worker described Ibrahim A. as "naïve and childish", frequently talking about wanting to learn German, find work, and own a dog and an apartment. Ibrahim A. started training as a geriatric nurse, but never finished after he started using drugs.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/schleswig-holstein_magazin/Brokstedt-Prozess-Wer-ist-Ibrahim-A,shmag116506.html |title=Brokstedt-Prozess: Wer ist Ibrahim A.? |last= |language=de |access-date=2025-06-17 |via=NDR}}{{Cite web |last=Friederike Schneider |date=2023-02-15 |title=Der Weg nach Brokstedt: Chronik der Ereignisse vor der Tat |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Der-Weg-nach-Brokstedt-Chronik-der-Ereignisse-vor-der-Tat,brokstedt206.html |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=NDR Nachrichten |publisher=Norddeutscher Rundfunk}}>

= Prior criminal record =

From September 2015 to January 2021, there had been 24 preliminary and criminal proceedings against Ibrahim A. The charges listed included theft, fraud, dangerous bodily harm, drugs, sexual harassment, damage to property, child abuse, rape of persons unfit to resist, driving without a license, and trespassing.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=24 Verfahren und nur eine Verurteilung Attentat von Brokstedt: NRW prüft Wiederaufnahme von vier Verfahren gegen Ibrahim A. |url=https://www.rtl.de/cms/attentat-von-brokstedt-nrw-prueft-wiederaufnahme-von-vier-verfahren-gegen-ibrahim-a-5029448.html |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=RTL News |publisher=RTL News GmbH}} Most of these proceedings were discontinued, but four resulted in convictions.

In 2015, he was convicted of theft for shoplifting a perfume bottle worth €30 and received a monetary fine. On 26 July 2016, Ibrahim A. was convicted of dangerous bodily harm after he attacked one of his friends, a Syrian national, punching and stabbing the other man once in the chin. He received a suspended sentence and probation. Earlier, his application was rejected on 12 July 2016 and because the public prosecutor's office of Bonn had failed to inform the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees of his conviction, he was granted subsidiary protection, which remained in place despite later convictions for other violent offences. In January 2018, he was arrested for possessing one gram of cocaine, for which he received a fine. In 2019, Ibrahim A. was investigated on suspicion of rape through the use of rohypnol, but not convicted. In 2020, he was arrested for injuring a man with a metal chain.{{Cite news |last=Großekemper |first=Tobias |date=2023-01-31 |title=(S+) Tatverdächtiger im Fall Brokstedt: Mehr als 20 Ermittlungsverfahren in NRW |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/verdaechtiger-im-fall-brokstedt-hatte-mehr-als-20-ermittlungsverfahren-in-nrw-a-e6fe38a1-56cf-4b05-986e-00556743ec16 |access-date=2025-06-17 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}} By 2021, Ibrahim A. was terminated from nurse training for drug use and kicked out of his refugee accomodation for fighting.

In July 2021, Ibrahim A. moved to Kiel. Upon his new registration in the city, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees took notice of his criminal record and sought to have his subsidary protection revoked, but the court proceedings were still ongoing by 2023. Between 2021 and 2022, he continued to be arrested for shoplifiting and knife crime, reportedly homeless and spending most of his time in Hamburg. In January 2022, while in Hamburg, Ibrahim A. stabbed a man in front of a homeless shelter, cutting an artery and tendon. Two days after the attack, he assaulted another man while standing in line to a drug rehabilitation centre, hitting the victim in the back of the head with the handle of a switchblade. He was under the influence of alcohol, heroin and cocaine during both incidents. On 18 August 2022, the St. Georg Local Court of Hamburg sentenced him to one year and one week imprisonment for dangerous bodily harm and theft. A. appealed the sentence, but ultimately served a jail sentence between 21 January 2022 to 19 January 2023 in Billwerder prison. In prison, staff suspected that he had mental issues and regularly drugged him with methadone.

While in custody, Ibrahim A. behaved conspicuously. He insulted inmates and court staff, and other physical altercations took place. Ibrahim A. also began exhibiting strange behaviour such as scratching at the walls with a spoon and claiming that "the devil" spoke to him. On 6 August 2022, a prison officer noticed that Ibrahim A. kept repeating the phrase, "Big car, Berlin, the truth." He asked another staff member on two occasions whether they wanted to 'get under the tires' as well. In a perception sheet in the prisoner's personnel file, it was recorded in August 2022 that he also compared himself to the attacker in the 2016 Berlin truck attack, Anis Amri, saying "There is not just one Anis Amri - there are several, and I am one of them".{{Cite web |date=2023-02-05 |title=Messerattacke in Brokstedt : Verdächtiger verglich sich mit Anis Amri |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/brokstedt-verdaechtiger-verglich-sich-mit-breitscheidplatz-attentaeter-anis-amri-18656232.html |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |publisher=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH 2001 - 2023 |type=Der mutmaßliche Messer-Angreifer soll sich mit dem Breitscheidplatz-Attentäter Amri verglichen haben. Eine entsprechende Äußerung steht einem Bericht zufolge in seiner Akte}} He was not known to be on any extremist watch lists.{{Cite web |title=Two people killed after man stabs passengers on train in Germany |url=https://news.sky.com/story/two-people-killed-after-man-stabs-passengers-on-train-in-germany-12795268 |website=Sky News}}

On 19 January 2023, Ibrahim A. was released, as he had completed serving his one-year sentence, and a decision on appeal was not expected in the foreseeable future. Proceedings were ongoing against him for assault. Six days later, the knife attack happened in Brokstedt. He had stolen the kitchen knife used in the attack at a supermarket in Kiel.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-15 |title=Messerattacke in Brokstedt: Lebenslange Haft für Ibrahim A. |url=https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/panorama/kriminalitaet/brokstedt-zug-attentat-messer-ibrahim-100.html |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=ZDFheute |language=de}}

= Motivation =

The prosecutor's office did not assume a terrorist background, although Ibrahim A. was said to have compared himself with Anis Amri. Rather, they saw the motive for the crime as anger and frustration at his personal situation.

= Custody and trial =

While still hospitalised, Ibrahim A. asked police how many people he stabbed and what nationalities they held. He was put into jail custody on 31 January 2023 and after several months of mental health counselling, psychologists voiced suspicion that Ibrahim A. was affected by psychosis. A. was reportedly claiming the "Palestinian secret service" was stalking him, that the interior of his cell was being broadcast on public television, and that the devil was ordering him to commit suicide. A. denied being mentally ill.{{Cite web |date=16 April 2024 |title=Mörder aus dem Regionalzug in Brokstedt soll unter Psychose leiden |url=https://www.focus.de/panorama/welt/mordprozess-moerder-aus-dem-regionalzug-in-brokstedt-soll-unter-psychose-leiden_id_259861787.html |website=FOCUS}}{{Cite web |date=2024-04-08 |title=Gefängnis-Psychiater: Verdacht auf Psychose bei Ibrahim A. |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/brokstedt-prozess-gefaengnis-psychiater-verdacht-auf-psychose-bei-ibrahim-a-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-240407-99-591971 |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=Süddeutsche.de |language=de}}{{Cite web |last=Bartelt |first=Peter |title=Brokstedt-Prozess: Psychiater äußert Verdacht auf Psychose |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Brokstedt-Prozess-Psychiater-aeussert-Verdacht-auf-Psychose,brokstedt400.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=ndr.de |language=de}}{{Cite web |last=Mittelacher |first=Bettina |date=2023-01-30 |title=Messerattacke Brokstedt: Nach tödlichem Angriff – das sagt ein psychiatrischer Gutachter |url=https://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/article237501137/messerattacke-brokstedt-ibrahim-a-das-sagt-ein-psychiatrischer-gutachter.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=www.abendblatt.de |language=de}} The assessment was held that Ibrahim A. was still fit to stand trial.{{Cite news |last=Geißlinger |first=Esther |date=2024-04-09 |title=Prozess um Angriff von Brokstedt: Ein „böser Teufel“ im Kopf |url=https://taz.de/Prozess-um-Angriff-von-Brokstedt/!6000464/ |access-date=2025-06-17 |work=Die Tageszeitung: taz |language=de |issn=0931-9085}}

A. was charged with two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder.{{Cite news |last=tagesschau.de |date=2023-04-27 |title=Staatsanwaltschaft erhebt Anklage nach tödlicher Messerattacke in Zug |language=de |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/anklage-messerattacke-brokstedt-100.html |access-date=2023-05-23}} On 15 April 2024, the Itzehoe District Court sentenced Ibrahim A. to life in prison.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-15 |title=German court convicts a man of murder over a fatal stabbing on a train last year |url=https://apnews.com/article/germany-train-stabbing-brokstedt-trial-verdict-7c2bd73ac974a00f9d4fb952e4e4e184 |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=AP News |language=en}}

Reactions

On 22 February 2023, the Schleswig-Holsteinischer Landtag deliberated a proposal Lessons from the Brockstedt case: Improving communication with the authorities and establishing consistent deportation. Considerable shortcomings in the communication and administration of the authorities involved in immigration were found.{{Cite web |date=22 February 2023 |title=Plenarprotokoll 19. Sitzung Mittwoch, 22. Februar 2023 |url=https://www.landtag.ltsh.de/export/sites/ltsh/infothek/wahl20/plenum/plenprot/2023/20-019_02-23.pdf |website=Schleswig-Holsteinischer Landtag Plenarprotokoll 20/19 20. Wahlperiode |pages=1336–1357}}

In April 2025, Felix Gerike and seven others were awarded a Livesaving Medal (Lebensrettungsmedallie) for their part in stopping the perpetrator.{{Cite web |title=Messerangriff im Zug: „Dann hat er mir in die Nase gebissen“ – Überlebender spricht über Brokstedt-Angreifer - WELT |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article255994152/Messerangriff-im-Zug-Dann-hat-er-mir-in-die-Nase-gebissen-Ueberlebender-spricht-ueber-Brokstedt-Angreifer.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=DIE WELT |language=de}}