“There are no indications as to the suspect’s motive, but signs of a psychological illness possibly induced by narcotics are said to be present,” prosecutors wrote in a statement.
Prosecutors said the man had admitted carrying out the attack at the private Protestant School in Berlin’s Neukoelln district Wednesday afternoon, in which he stabbed two students aged 7 and 8 with a kitchen knife.
Both children remain hospitalized with serious injuries. Prosecutors say the older child’s condition is stable and no longer acutely life-threatening.
The school’s principal, Thorsten Knauer-Huckauf, said the suspect was not a member of the school community. He said students, staff and parents were “deeply affected and shocked” by the attack.