Shock attack on the ICE: Syrian injures passengers with hammer and ax!

Shock attack on the ICE: Syrian injures passengers with hammer and ax!

In a frightening incident on the ICE train from Hamburg to Vienna on July 4, 2025, a 20-year-old Syrian attacked several passengers with a hammer and an ax. The train, which had around 500 passengers on board, stopped near Straßkirchen in Lower Bavaria on the open route. A total of five people were injured, including the attacker himself, who was then overpowered by a passenger. The police then arrested him. According to KStA there is so far no evidence of an extremist background or a specific motive for the attack.

Among the injured were a Syrian woman, her son and two other men aged 24 and 51. It remains particularly unclear whether the attacker and his victims knew each other; He had reportedly spoken to them previously. You are a recognized refugee with a residence permit in Austria and were therefore legally on the train. Bavarian investigative authorities are working closely with Austrian authorities to fully investigate the incident. So far, the attacker has not been noticed in Bavaria, as the police report.

Emergency procedures and responses

After the attack, the passengers had to be taken to the nearest train station in Straßkirchen, where a care center was set up to support the traumatized passengers. The Bavarian Red Cross was on duty with rescue workers, helicopters and psychosocial emergency care. The alarm came in around 2 p.m. after passengers pulled the emergency brake. Deutsche Bahn expressed sympathy for the victims and thanked the emergency services for their quick response to the incident.

Violent crime in focus

Such incidents highlight the problem of violent crime in Germany. According to [Statista](https://de.statista.com/themen/11062/ criminalitaet-in-deutschland-violentcrime/), violent crimes make up less than 4% of all crimes recorded by the police, but these have a much greater impact on people's sense of security than theft or fraud. The number of violent crimes has increased again since 2021, after a decline during the pandemic. Around 217,000 violent crimes were recorded in 2024, the highest number since 2007.

It should also be noted that almost a third of the suspects are under 21 years old. The reasons for this increase could be economic uncertainty, social stress and psychological stress caused by the Corona measures. This is cited by experts as an explanation for the increasing violence. Spiegel emphasizes that society is reacting to the worrying development; 94% of Germans consider violence and aggression against people in public office to be a major problem.