Parts of bicycles lie on the rails. They run parallel to the street in Mannheim on which a 36-year-old man apparently deliberately rammed and knocked over four cyclists. A 71-year-old succumbed to her injuries at the scene. Three other cyclists were injured, some seriously. One of the men has since left the hospital, the public prosecutor and the police reported on Monday.
The driver was on the run on Sunday evening, as it now turns out: Before the serious collision, he is said to have killed his father in Ellerstadt in Rhineland-Palatinate. It was not initially announced how the 69-year-old died.
According to the first findings, this much is already certain: According to the information, the man is mentally ill and was therefore receiving medical treatment. Up to about a week before the events in Ellerstadt and Mannheim, he had been hospitalized as an inpatient. According to the authorities, he is said to have committed the crimes in a mental state of emergency.
After he is said to have killed his father shortly before 6 p.m., the suspect got into his mother’s car before the police arrived at the crime scene and fled in the direction of Mannheim. At first there was no contact with the police, nor was there a chase, it is said.
About half an hour later, the 36-year-old drove down the street in Mannheim, rammed the cyclists over a distance of one and a half kilometers, steered the damaged car a little further and got out. A police spokesman reports that the man has long been under investigation.
A witness observed how the fugitive took off some of his clothes and jumped into the adjacent Rhine. A police helicopter is on duty, as are officers from the water police. They finally pull the 36-year-old out of the water. He is taken to the hospital. The authorities initially did not want to comment on his state of health.
A police spokesman said there was no evidence that the crime could have been politically motivated. The man has not yet appeared with the police. Investigators say he may have hit the cyclists on purpose.
The public prosecutor’s office in Mannheim is now also taking over the investigation into the killing of the father in Rhineland-Palatinate. A 20-strong investigative team is formed at the Mannheim police headquarters. Efforts are being made to refer the 36-year-old to a psychiatric clinic.
