Overview

• On May 23, Lydia S., 39, attacked passengers at Hamburg’s main train station with a knife, injuring 18 people aged 18 to 85, four of them seriously.
• She had been discharged from a Bremerhaven psychiatric facility on May 22 despite four prior clinical stays and a documented history of paranoid delusions and past violence.
• A Lübeck court rejected prosecutors’ request to commit her involuntarily after she allegedly stabbed her father in January, leaving that case unresolved.
• Investigators acknowledge that the absence of a centralized register for individuals with severe psychiatric histories hindered information sharing among federal and state agencies.
• The Interior Ministry and police unions are calling for nationwide risk registers and the deployment of advanced AI surveillance systems to bolster public safety.