Overview

• Prosecutors identify the suspect as 17-year-old Kosovar national Erjon S. and allege two counts of attempted murder tied to an extremist conviction.
• Investigators say he planned the violence from September 3 to wage “jihad” and then stabbed a known teacher and an unrelated passerby, both of whom suffered serious but non-fatal injuries.
• After the stabbings he twice went to Essen’s Alte Synagoge seeking further targets but left without encountering people he considered suitable.
• Security sources report that police seized mobile‑phone videos showing a confession and religious justification, with “Allahu akbar” heard in one clip.
• Police arrested him about 90 minutes after the attack roughly 2.5 kilometers from the scene using a firearm, and he remains under hospital guard as the case moves toward possible presentation to a Karlsruhe investigating judge.