Published2. October 2024, 04:53
Knife attack in ZurichMr. Knecht, why does someone attack defenseless children?
In Zurich Oerlikon, a man injured three five-year-old boys with a stabbing weapon. The background is unclear. According to forensic scientist Thomas Knecht, the perpetrator could have shown psychotic or amok-like behavior.
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In Zurich Oerlikon, a 23-year-old Chinese man attacked after-school children with a stabbing weapon. Three boys were injured, one seriously and two moderately.
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Forensic scientist Thomas Knecht suspects that the perpetrator acted due to a psychotic state or amok-like phenomena.
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The alleged perpetrator was arrested.
A 23-year-old Chinese man attacked a group of after-school children in Oerlikon with a stabbing weapon on Tuesday. Three five-year-old boys were injured, one seriously and two moderately. The alleged perpetrator was arrested.
The act not only shocked those in the immediate vicinity. Many people ask themselves: Why would someone do something like that? In addition, forensic scientist Thomas Knecht.
Mr. Knecht, why would someone attack a group of defenseless children with a stabbing weapon?
Nothing is currently known regarding the motive. Because the children were attacked on the street, I assume that they were random victims. The alleged perpetrator probably felt a strong urge to destroy. That sounds terrible, but they were probably in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But how is someone even capable of something like that?
I see two options here. Either the alleged perpetrator exhibited paranoid, psychotic behavior. Such perpetrators lose all contact with reality and have delusions. They are guided by their inner state and project their delusional enemy image onto the victims, here small children. They have the urge to eliminate the enemy because he represents a danger in their psychosis.
Another possibility would be that the man exhibited amok-like phenomena. I also call such perpetrators “terrorists in their own right” because they act out of personal misery. They want to cause great damage. Everyone should be shaken. They are guided by extrinsic motivation. Rationality doesn’t matter to them, they simply want to spread terror.
Judith Hödl, media spokeswoman for the Zurich City Police, comments on the events.
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In both scenarios, the fact remains that the victims were only five years old…
Both psychotic and aggression-driven perpetrators do not feel “tender emotions” at the time of the crime. These are hidden, or in other words, they are immunized against it. It is rare for children to explicitly become victims. However, it is typical for weaker people to be chosen as victims.
The alleged perpetrator is only 23 years old…
This is not unusual. Young men up to the age of 25 are particularly vulnerable to committing serious violent crimes. Explanations for this in research include immaturity or increased aggression. In this case, however, it is noticeable that the alleged perpetrator is not from here. There are studies that show that some people become delinquent or even psychotic when they are in “foreign territory”, i.e. away from their familiar surroundings.
What threatens such a perpetrator?
Ultimately, you can’t say that. It is conceivable that the 23-year-old will have to answer for attempted intentional homicide. If someone does something so absurd, there is a big chance that they have a psychopathological disorder. It is therefore likely that an inpatient measure will be imposed on the perpetrator.
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