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Scene of the violent death of a 17-year-old: The police caught a suspect on Wednesday evening

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After the violent death of a 17-year-old and an attack on a 30-year-old in the Lower Saxony district of Diepholz, the wanted suspect has been caught. He was arrested on Wednesday evening and did not resist, police said. The 42-year-old's car, which had been searched for, was discovered around 19 p.m. on the A7, it was said. About an hour later, the arrest was made in the Schwarmstedt area.

The 17-year-old had been on the road with her inline skaters on Sunday evening. A cyclist found the lifeless schoolgirl in a ditch in a field in Barenburg and alerted the police, who immediately began searching for clues at the scene. An autopsy confirmed that the teenager had fallen victim to a violent act. She was stabbed to death.

Second attack on Wednesday morning

On Wednesday morning, a man – according to investigators, the same perpetrator as in the case of the 17-year-old – had attacked a 30-year-old woman just a few kilometers from Barenburg in front of a fast-food restaurant. She was seriously injured with a knife. According to the police, witnesses prevented worse and helped the woman. She was taken to hospital after the attack in Sulingen with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Based on his license plate, the police identified the alleged perpetrator. The district court of Verden issued an arrest warrant against the 42-year-old on Wednesday afternoon – on suspicion of completed and attempted manslaughter. "According to the current state of investigation, he randomly selected his victims and attacked them uncontrollably," the police said.

The investigators searched intensively for the man from Kirchdorf and published photos of him and his car. In the case of sighting of the suspect or his car, which is considered dangerous, the police should be notified immediately, it said.

The violent death of the 17-year-old had shaken the people in the region. According to his estimates, around 400 people came to a funeral service on Tuesday evening, said Pastor Klaus-Joachim Bachhofer of the Evangelical Lutheran parish of Kirchdorf. On Wednesday evening there should be another funeral service. Three to four emergency chaplains are also available for discussions afterwards, the pastor said. There is also a room of silence in the school, which is looked after around the clock by an emergency chaplain.

ktz/dpa