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The Cologne police are investigating whether extremism was the reason behind a bloody hostage taking at the city's main train station, but has so far found no connection to the Islamic State group, the authorities announced Tuesday.
Criminal Investigation Officer Klaus-Stephan Becker told reporters that the man had been identified as a 55-year-old Syrian refugee who had traveled to Germany in early 2015 and obtained the 39; asylum.
Witnesses of the Monday attack in the crowded train station told the police that the suspect, whose name had not been disclosed, had said he was acting on behalf of the Islamic State group. But Becker said that they had found nothing in this man's apartment in Cologne.
Police found Arabic phrases such as "Muhammad is my prophet" written in the apartment, but no concrete evidence of Islamic extremism, Becker said.
The suspect was shot several times after the police raided the station pharmacy where he held a woman hostage for two hours. He is no longer in danger of death, but remains in a coma.
The attack began when the man entered a McDonald's restaurant & # 39; s station and lit the fire of a gas bomb, injuring two people. One, a 14 year old girl, was operated on Tuesday for severe burns and the other was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.
He then went to the nearby pharmacy and hijacked an armed worker from what turned out to be an airgun.
The man threatened the woman when the police stormed the pharmacy. In the back shop of the pharmacy, the police found gasoline cans similar to those used for camping stoves.
It would have been difficult for the man to light the gas tanks with the equipment that he had, but if they had succeeded, they could have caused a big explosion, said Becker.
"What's his plan, I can only speculate, but what we saw clearly shows that he wanted to hurt a lot of people," Becker said.
Authorities believe that the suspect may have had psychological problems, but are still investigating, Becker said. The police had investigated 13 times in the past what he described as small to medium-range crimes, including possession of a small amount of marijuana, theft, disturbance of peace and fraud.
The suspect's son and brother also live in Germany. The police questioned the first and plan to talk to him. His wife is still living in Syria, Becker said.
The suspect is under investigation for attempted murder, bodily injury and hostage taking. The Federal Prosecutor's Office, which deals with terrorism and national security matters in Germany, is likely to be in charge of the investigation as it appears to be of "particular importance", said Markus Schmitt's representative.
The hostage was injured during the incident but was released from the hospital on Tuesday.
The police try to determine if the suspect came alone to the station and asks a video witness to download it for analysis.
More than one million migrants, mostly Muslims from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have entered Germany since 2015, which provoked a reaction brutal in some parts of the country and the rise of the far-right party Alternative for Germany.
The incident has again drawn attention to Cologne, which has been the scene of several criminal cases related to migrants in recent years.
In 2015, in Cologne, the festivities were eclipsed when hundreds of women complained of being pelted and stolen, mainly by migrant groups.
Since the beginning of 2016, the migration has decreased considerably.
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David Rising and Geir Moulson contributed to this Berlin story.
