Ratingen/Dusseldorf.
The Ratinger, who seriously injured emergency services with flammable liquid, set a trap for them. She must have a history.
The higher you go in the pre-built stairwell, the stronger the smell of smoke and the more traces the Ratingen crime left behind. Firefighters’ rubber gloves and boots lie about here, rubber burnt to black flats sticks to the floor, large bloodstains have soaked the stairs. Outgassing, sadness and dismay are in the air, “bad to imagine,” say neighbors and shake their heads: “You don’t even know what to wish for the injured.”
Five emergency services were critically injured by an explosion here on Thursday, have severe burns, are in an artificial coma. Now the forensics team in white overalls and wearing respiratory protection is on the 10th floor of the high-rise building, near the crime scene; Police officers go door to door and question neighbors – at least those who have been allowed or wanted to return. Some didn’t want to, temporarily living somewhere else than in this high-rise full of Müllers, Hoffmanns and Brauns. Older people mostly, 70 apartments on ten floors, the building renovated: No, it wasn’t a focal point – until Thursday.
“You can’t get away from there”
Until the police and fire brigade stand in front of an apartment door on the 10th floor and want to look for a supposedly helpless person. Then the attack. The police and the public prosecutor’s office are investigating what exactly happened on Friday to the best of their ability. The suspicion: Was it a trap? An attempted murder?
Also interesting: Firefighters demand more consistency against violent criminals
In any case, Klaus Pesch, the mayor of Ratingen, is convinced of it: “An assassination attempt.” The emergency services were victims of an “incendiary attack,” he says – and “had no chance to save themselves in front of the door. You can’t get away from there.” According to his information, the hallway was littered with broken glass, and large quantities of petrol must have been stored in the apartment: “Petrol vapors probably exploded there, triggered by a kind of Molotov cocktail.”
In the previous week, an older arrest warrant had not been executed
Yes, by and large it was the case, the public prosecutor’s office and the police confirmed on Friday afternoon. The suspect has just been brought before a judge, and the arrest warrant has been issued for nine counts of attempted murder. “Further allegations such as arson could be considered, but further investigations must be carried out,” says prosecutor Laura Neumann.
In any case, as the press conference progressed, it became clear: Yes, it was a trap – perhaps a trap with a history. Because on Wednesday last week, a district official wanted to execute an arrest warrant for the suspect for unpaid fines. But the door remains closed to him, he withdraws again – in such cases a “completely normal procedure”, according to District Administrator Thomas Hendele.
“You don’t do that spontaneously”
The two police officers and eight firefighters who drive to the high-rise building on Berliner Strasse on Thursday do not know this history. They drive to a presumed helpless person who has reported the housing association because of the overflowing mailbox. Firefighters saw open the door and find a barricade of bottled water cases behind it.
Also read: Ratingen explosion: what we know so far and what we don’t
While they were clearing them away, “the suspect stepped up, threw a flammable liquid, and there was an explosion,” said police operations manager Dietmar Henning. According to criminal director Heike Schultz, this has been “thought through for several days, you don’t do that spontaneously”. Police from across the country are called together, and a three-and-a-half-hour siege begins. Access is delayed because the man gradually infects his own apartment – and because the service weapon of one of the injured police officers is missing. She is later found in the apartment, the perpetrator has not used her.
Emergency services in Ratingen will be taken off duty for a week
The investigators still don’t know very much about the suspect this afternoon. Corona deniers, “separatist scene”, according to Schultz, preppers – someone who stocks up excessively – but whether that plays a role in the motive is unclear. Three prior convictions for assault, each with fines. He lived a secluded life with his mother, who – also unknown at this point – is probably the female body found in the apartment. The woman died a few weeks ago at the age of 90 or 91. “There is no evidence of third-party debt,” says Schultz.
Klaus Pesch, the mayor of Ratingen, has helped the city’s volunteer fire brigade for 25 years and knows some of the injured well: “Several times during the night I couldn’t fight back the tears.” He also knows what it’s all about What matters to the others: You have to “try to work through that with our emergency services. I firmly reckon that many will not be able to drive an operation for some time.” In the evening it was announced: they can withdraw from the service for a week, other colleagues from the Mettmann district will take over their tasks in Ratingen.
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