A 31-year-old man who had entrenched himself with a knife in his brother's apartment in Nierstein, south of Mainz, on Tuesday morning, was arrested in the afternoon. A special task force confronted him when he tried to escape from the window across a front yard at around 15 p.m. Previously, the tense situation had dragged on for hours. The man and his 14-year-old nephew, who was in the apartment, were unharmed.
According to the police, witnesses had seen the man, who lives in the neighboring town of Oppenheim, walk in the morning with a large knife through Nierstein, which is located on the Rhine. "We could not properly assess the situation," said Rinaldo Roberto, spokesman for the responsible Mainz police. That's why 100 forces of a special task force and the police headquarters were in the wine village.
"We now have to determine the reasons why he walked through Nierstein with a knife." Only then will a decision be made on how to proceed and whether, for example, psychiatric treatment is required.