Man admitted to psychiatric hospital after stabbing toddler in German supermarket

The Dutch-Syrian man suspected of stabbing a toddler in a German supermarket has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. A German judge ruled that he should be held there until further notice for attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm.

The 34-year-old Dutchman of Syrian descent is accused of attacking a 4-year-old girl with a knife. The girl was immediately taken to hospital and had to undergo surgery. She is in a stable condition now. The reason for the attack is still unclear. According to the police, the 34-year-old did not know the toddler or her mother.

The incident occurred on Wednesday in a supermarket in Wangen im Allgäu (Baden-Württemberg). One witness managed to overpower and disarm the man, and chased the suspect as he called police. The Dutch-Syrian man was arrested without resistance, the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau reported.

"The witness called the police and told us where the man was. That's how my colleagues were able to arrest him," the local police told the newspaper.

Wangen im Allgäu is a small city of 27,000 people near Lake Constance and the Austrian border. The case is being led by investigators based in Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg.