Police hunting for Syrian national, 35, after five football fans were stabbed outside a German bar in ‘planned’ attack

German police are searching for a Syrian national who attacked and injured at least five people in Germany on Sunday.

Named in local reports as Mahmoud Mhemed, 35, the suspect is alleged to have stabbed the football fans with a knife in front of the Cuties bar in the western city of Bielefeld.

Four men, aged between 22 and 27, and a woman, aged 26, were reportedly attacked by Mhemed as they stood in front of the bar in the early hours of this morning.

Police said four of the victims suffered serious injuries and were being treated in different hospitals. Two are reportedly in critical condition.

Horrified onlookers attempted to knock the attacker down but Mhemed managed to flee the scene, but his backpack was left behind amid the chaos.

According to local police, as per German newspaper Bild, the bag contained ‘personal documents and a bottle containing an unknown liquid that smelled of gasoline,’ among other things. 

This chilling discovery led to cops believing that the suspect had not acted spontaneously, but had planned the attack and equipped himself for it.

Police spokeswoman Katja Küster: ‘The background to the crime and the suspect’s motive are currently unknown. 

German police are searching for a Syrian national, named locally as Mahmoud Mhemed, who attacked and injured at least five people in Germany on Sunday

Police and forensic investigators are on the scene following an attack in the western city of Bielefeld, Germany, Sunday May 18, 2025

Four men, aged between 22 and 27, and a woman, aged 26, were reportedly attacked by Mhemed as they stood in front of the bar in the early hours of this morning

‘According to current information, the suspect attacked people indiscriminately. Investigations are currently underway at full speed in all directions.’ 

Later on Sunday, police raided Mhemed’s apartment in Harsewinkel but he was not there, sparking the force to launch a public manhunt.

Local residents told Bild that they had seen the man there that morning. 

Police have described Mhemed as 5ft 2in to 5ft 5in tall, with a stocky build. He has black hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a black hoodie, white T-shirt, black pants, and black baseball cap at the time of the attack.

Investigators have warned: ‘If you encounter the suspect, please immediately call the police emergency number 110. 

‘Please keep your distance and do not endanger yourself. It cannot be ruled out that the suspect is armed.’    

German news agency DPA earlier reported that the revelers were soccer fans from a local team who defended themselves against the attacker before he fled. 

The city’s Arminia Bielefeld soccer club won its match on Saturday, and with it became 3rd division champions.

According to police, the attacker may have also been injured in the face.

Bielefeld police said in a statement that they found several knives at the scene of the attack and that they have activated a witness hotline asking people to upload videos and photos of the attack. 

Party leader of the right-wing German party AfD, Alice Weidel, wrote on X that the knife attack is a result of the Christian Democrats’ failed policies in the region.

‘CDU leader Friedrich Merz refuses to deport Syrian citizens who no longer have valid grounds to be considered refugees. I wish all those injured a speedy recovery’, she said. 

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