Proposal sought for a worker safety directive addressing radiation risks by the Commission.
In an unprecedented incident, a 13-year-old girl, who had been under police surveillance for months due to suspected Islamist extremism, allegedly attacked a 24-year-old caregiver with a knife in the kitchen of a youth psychiatry facility in Paderborn.
The girl, who had been exhibiting jihadist threats and attempting to harm officers since June, was considered highly dangerous and had been under constant police watch since then [1][5]. The police had warned the hospital administration of this threat a few days prior to the attack on August 16 [1].
Despite the police warning, the clinic continued its course of action, deciding to introduce the patient to shared meals, a step taken when patients show progress. However, the hospital director later admitted that this decision may have been a misjudgment in this case [2].
The attack occurred during the brief absence of a guard, and it is currently unclear how the patient obtained the knife [3]. Sharp objects like kitchen knives are stored locked away in the living kitchens of the facility, and the LWL could not currently say how the patient obtained the knife [3].
The victim sustained life-threatening injuries and required emergency surgery, but is now out of danger. The LWL, which runs the facility, is offering comprehensive support to the injured employee and their relatives, as well as to the entire team and the patients [6].
The public prosecutor and police later placed the girl in a closed psychiatric ward under secure conditions for monitoring and treatment [1][2]. Violence against employees occurs rarely in the clinic's daily life, but this case is extraordinary for the clinic operator.
The police investigation into how the girl obtained the kitchen knife is ongoing. The motive for the attack is also the subject of ongoing examination by the public prosecutor's office.
[1] The Local [2] Deutsche Welle [3] BBC News [4] The Guardian [5] Der Spiegel
- Despite the warnings from the police about the girl's dangerous behavior, the youth psychiatry facility continued to engage her in health-and-wellness activities, such as shared meals, which could be considered a misjudgment in this case.
- The incident at the youth psychiatry facility, involving a 13-year-old girl's alleged attack on a caregiver with a knife, raises concerns about the safety protocols in place for mental-health patients who are under police surveillance due to suspected extremism.
- The public prosecutor's office and police are investigating the motives behind the girl's attack and how she obtained the knife, which is a matter of crime-and-justice and general-news interest.
- In light of this incident, there are questions being raised about the fitness-and-exercise and health-and-wellness programs in such facilities, as well as the role of politics in dealing with suspected Islamist extremism among minors.
