In July 2016, a 21-year-old Syrian asylum seeker went on a rampage in Reutlingen, Germany. He had gotten into a heated exchange with a pregnant coworker, who was a Polish national. The 2 worked together at a Turkish kebab shop, where the attacker retrieved a large machete-like knife used to slice meat. He proceeded to attack the woman, killing her before he turned on 2 bystanders. He began attacking vehicles at random with the knife. The man was subdued by police after a passing vehicle ran into him.
The man had previously been known to police for violence. It was later revealed that the woman he murdered was actually his girlfriend. The man was charged with murder, along with other charges. His defense claimed he acted in a heat of passion because he had just found out his girlfriend was seeing another man, but the judge didn’t buy it. He was sentenced to life in prison. German authorities treated the case as possible Islamic terrorism.
