Police report no new leads, while many question how this could have happened. An overview.
A convicted criminal has been missing since Saturday after failing to return from authorized day release from Erlangen’s forensic psychiatric facility. Police are searching nationwide and have issued a European arrest warrant. According to the treating clinic’s assessment, the 34-year-old man does not pose a danger to the public. The Ansbach prosecutor’s office confirms this is the same individual convicted of the 2009 school attack in Ansbach.
How did the escape occur?
The man was on a solo authorized day release from the Erlangen forensic psychiatric facility on Saturday. According to the Middle Franconia District Clinics, he failed to return at the agreed time. The clinic notified police during Sunday night.
Who is the man?
The 34-year-old is the convicted perpetrator of the 2009 school attack in Ansbach. Then 18 years old, he entered the school armed with an axe, knives, and Molotov cocktails, injuring nine classmates and one teacher. In 2010, he received a nine-year juvenile sentence for 47 counts of attempted murder. A juvenile court also ordered indefinite psychiatric confinement.
How dangerous is he?
The treating clinic assesses that the 34-year-old does not pose a threat to the public. The man had been permitted regular unaccompanied day releases since the beginning of the year as part of his therapeutic treatment. Previously, there had been no incidents or concerns during these releases. The prosecutor’s office notes that the responsible penal enforcement chamber recently ordered his continued confinement on July 4th of this year.
Why was he permitted unsupervised release?
According to the Bavarian Social Ministry, confinement in forensic psychiatry also aims at rehabilitation. Unaccompanied day releases are intended to test reintegration into normal daily life.
For constitutional reasons, confined individuals have a legal right to relaxed enforcement measures when these are expected to promote treatment and social reintegration. Decisions consider factors like treatment progress, the nature of the original crime, and personality. Both the prosecutor’s office and police are consulted before unaccompanied releases are approved.
How is the search proceeding?
Police have checked the man’s immediate surroundings and several addresses. Based on the clinic’s assessment that he poses no public danger, there is currently no large-scale search operation involving helicopters or similar measures, according to a Middle Franconia Police spokesperson. The prosecutor’s office currently plans no public manhunt, which would require judicial approval. All involved parties remain in communication.
The search was expanded Tuesday with a European arrest warrant approved by the Ansbach Regional Court, confirmed prosecutor’s spokesperson Jonas Heinzlmeier: “We have taken various investigative measures in cooperation with police, which I cannot specify for tactical reasons.”
How was the incident disclosed?
The Middle Franconia District Clinics initially described the event Monday on their website generally as “unauthorized absence” from the Erlangen psychiatry facility. The Ansbach prosecutor’s office confirmed Tuesday afternoon that the missing individual was the 2009 school attacker.
Police provided information about search measures upon request but did not proactively publicize the incident. A police spokesperson cited the clinic’s danger assessment and the man’s prior incident-free record during previous releases.
What are the consequences?
If apprehended, the 34-year-old can expect all relaxed enforcement measures to be revoked. A new risk assessment will follow through therapeutic evaluation, considering his return circumstances, health status, and any crimes committed during his absence. Misusing release privileges itself is not a criminal offense, a spokesperson confirmed.
With information from dpa
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