Mental Illness Ruled out in Munich Vehicular Homicide
"[In questioning, he admitted deliberately driving into the demonstration and] gave an explanation that I would summarize as religious motivation."
"According to all we know at the moment, I would venture to speak of an Islamist motivation."
"[He posted content with religious references -- such as 'Allah -- protect us always' -- on social media, where he described himself as a body-builder and fitness model]."
"I'm very cautious about making hasty judgements, but based on
everything we know at the moment, I would venture to speak of an
Islamist motivation for the crime."
Munich Prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann
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| A car rammed into a union rally in the Bavarian capital, with authorities saying some 36 were injured. |
The 24-year-old Afghan failed refugee applicant who drove a Mini Cooper into a procession of trade union protesters in Munich, after an initial investigation, faces 36 counts of attempted murder, bodily harm and dangerous interference with road traffic. A new charge has been added, however, that of the murder of a 37-year-old woman, and her two-year-old child, both trapped under the charging car as it plowed into the back end of the crowd of union protesters.
Police have identified the suspect in the Thursday incident as Farhad N. "Unfortunately, we have to confirm the deaths today of the two-year-old
child and her 37-year-old mother," police spokesman Ludwig Waldinger announced on Saturday. Mother and child had been rushed to hospital, along with others who had suffered serious injuries; thus far they are the only injured not to have survived the brutal vehicular assault.
According to authorities, the suspect arrived in Germany in 2016. Despite his asylum application having been rejected, he was permitted on humanitarian grounds to remain in Germany, under the theory that should he be deported back to Afghanistan, he might face risks there. In Germany he obtained a valid residence and work permit. Police say now he had no previous criminal record, and no evidence exists of a link to a jihadist group.
In January, a 28-year-old Afghan asylum seeker stabbed a group of children in a park in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg. On that occasion a two-year-old child and a passerby who attempted to intervene were both killed. A month earlier, a 50-year-old Saudi asylum seeker who posed as a critic of Islam drove a vehicle into a German Christmas market, killing six people, and injuring 299 people.
"The brutality of this crime churns our emotions and renders us
speechless."
"[The injured included
children, some of them seriously. The person responsible
would be] held to account according to the law."
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Guidi Limmer, deputy head of Bavaria's state criminal police office, revealed that investigators found an online chat, seemingly with relatives, in which the suspect wrote "perhaps I won't be there anymore tomorrow". Police have unveiled nothing that might point to concrete preparations for the attack, or whether anyone else had been involved, although that single line in and of itself might indicate mental preparation.
Among the jobs he held, one was a work assignment as a store detective. Prosecutor Tillman advised there was no indication of the involvement of a mental illness. Unless one considers, perhaps, that violent Islamism in and of itself is a symptom of a violent pathology that arises sporadically and spontaneously in the faith-demented minds of such as he.
One might logically query: what is the purpose and effect of a rejected asylum claim, if the claimant is permitted regardless, to remain in the country which has rejected his asylum request, issued a work permit and live there as a permanent resident...? And how many rejected asylum claimants demonstrating their contempt for the country's generosity does it take to have a second look at the absurdity of the situation?
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| German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Minister for Justice and Transport
Volker Wissing and Munich mayor Dieter Reiter lay flowers as they visit a
makeshift memorial for the victims of a suspected ramming attack where a
24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd, as the
Munich Security Conference (MSC) takes place in Munich, Germany February
15, 2025. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach |
Labels: Failed Afghan Refugee Claimant, Munich/Germany, Murdered Mother and Child, Trade Union Procession, Vehicular Attack
Beware, Pay Attention, Vehicular Homicide in View
"Once you have heard the evidence, it is the Crown's position that you will be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Abdulahi Sharif wanted to kill people."
"He tried first to murder Constable Chernyk, and then during an extremely dangerous driving pattern, he fled from police causing bodily harm to four strangers."
"It is the Crown's position he intentionally tried to kill these people by hitting them in that U-Haul truck."
Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Wheaton, Edmonton
"I thought the vehicle was going to hit me, so I turned to my left to get out of the way. I thought I gave myself enough time to move out of the way of the vehicle, but that didn't happen."
"The next thing I remember I was flying through the air and tucking my chin to my chest."
"I could feel the top of my head burning and my hairline was very wet."
"It was at that moment that I realized there was a black male on top of me, stabbing me with a knife."
"Officer down."
Const.Mike Chernyk, Edmonton police officer
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| Abdulahi Hasan Sharif |
At the trial of 32-year-old Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, facing 11 charges going back to a vehicular attack in Edmonton in 2017, Edmonton police officer Const.Mike Chernyk said what was going through his mind at the time was
"Trying to survive for my kids. I'm a single parent with two children". The charges against Sharif include five counts of attempted murder, and he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Among the charges are those of aggravated assault and dangerous driving.
Const.Chernyk was alone on duty, directing traffic when he noticed a car fast approaching, an engine revving. Unable to prevent the collision, a vehicle against his vulnerable body that sent him flying, he shortly became aware that someone was on top of him. The burning he felt and the wet along his hairline was, though he failed to realize it at the time while in shock, was that he had been stabbed and blood was running down his face. He became aware that the man was attempting to grab his service pistol, and he managed to push it further into its holster.
Const.Chernyk suffered cuts to the top of his head, in his inner left ear, and between his left ear and eye, with scrapes and bruises on his arms, leg and abdomen. His first instinct was to chase the man who, unable to take possession of his pistol, had began to leave the scene, then understood that should he lose consciousness no one might find him to give him aid, so he called in
"officer down" and waited by his police vehicle for other officers to arrive.
"Suddenly, he noticed headlights coming toward him. He heard the
sound of a vehicle accelerating. He tried to move out of the way but it
was too late."
"A number of bystanders tried to come to his aid as
he laid [sic] on his back and tried to get his bearings."
"But suddenly the
driver of that vehicle was there. A black man in dark clothing with a
knife and he was trying to stab Const.Chernyki in the head with that knife."
"The bystanders saw the knife and they fled, fearing for their lives. Const.Chernyk was now alone, fighting for his."
Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Wheaton
At day one of the trial, Det.Allen Park and Sgt.Bradley Redl of the city police crime scene investigations unit were the first two witnesses. They had taken photographs of the scenes, of seized items, and of the injuries sustained by Const.Chernyk, as well as those that Sharif had sustained. The Somali national who spoke through an interpreter had been injured in the crash before his arrest, had a few taser
"darts" stuck to his body and clothing.
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| Edmonton Police Service Const. Mike Chernyk in hospital |
Abdulahi Sharif's intention had been to kill people in downtown Edmonton. The lead officer on the case is a national security investigator with the RCMP. On the occasion of Sharif's attempts at murder, it all began during the observation of a military appreciation night held at a CFL football game at Commonwealth Stadium. It was recounted for the jury of 13 people that Const.Chernyk kept his hand on his gun to keep it from falling into his assailant's hands. Eventually the struggle stopped and the attacker fled.
Officers at a containment point stopped a man a few hours later, driving a U-Haul, and when an officer took the driver's licence, he sped off in the vehicle, taking police on a high-speed chase through the city's downtown area. Speeds of up to 85 km/h were reached by police following the fugitive. His speeding truck turned into an alley, striking two pedestrians, then another two near a book shop, before a police vehicle knocked the van onto its side, pulling out the suspect.
"The Crown's position is none of the collisions were accidents. Mr. Sharif could have avoided people in that alley but he didn't. He intentionally hit them."
"He could have stayed on the road by Audreys Books but he intentionally drove into a crowd of people."
"[Police] ended this dangerous incident without any loss of life [when a police truck driver knocked
the U-Haul over and a suspect was pulled from the front of the van
following the deployment of a flash-bang and police smashed its
windshield]."
Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Wheaton
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| A U-Haul box truck was tipped over after a police chase west down Jasper Avenue on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017.
Ian Kucerak /
Edmonton Journal | | | |
Labels: Edmonton, Heroism, Police, Terrorism, Vehicular Attack
