A NEWLY elected German mayor is reportedly fighting for her life after a brutal knife attack outside her home.
Iris Stalzer, 57, was allegedly stabbed 13 times in the stomach and back by “several men” in North Rhine-Westphalia.
PRIris Stalzer, 57, was allegedly stabbed 13 times in the stomach and back by ‘several men’[/caption]
APEmergency officials transport the newly elected German mayor to hospital[/caption]
Her adopted 15-year-old son is said to have found the SPD politician seriously wounded inside her home.
She reportedly told him she had been assaulted on the street before managing to get back indoors.
The boy and his 17-year-old sister then phoned the cops who rushed to the flat.
Stalzer was flown by rescue helicopter to the Knappschaft University Hospital in Bochum where she is now receiving treatment.
The motive behind the attack remains unclear.
Police have since issued a major alert and launched a large-scale search for the culprits.
A homicide squad is expected to take over the case, local media reported.
Stalzer had only been elected mayor for a town in the Ruhr region in a runoff vote on September 28.
She narrowly won with 52.2% of the vote against centre-right Christian Democrat candidate Fabian Conrad Haas.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke about the attack on social media: “We have received news of a terrible deed in Herdecke,”
“It must be swiftly investigated. We fear for the life of the mayor-designate and hope for her full recovery.”
The stabbing comes shortly after an Albanian judge was shot dead inside his own courtroom.
A man on trial opened fire, killing the presiding judge and injuring two others during a heated property dispute hearing.
The gunman was identified by cops as E.Sh., who was a 30-year-old defendant in the case.
The judge was rushed to hospital after the horror Monday attack but “succumbed to his injuries on the way,” police confirmed.
The other side in the dispute — a father and son — were also hit and remain in hospital but are stable, officials said.
Local reports suggest the gunman opened fire because he believed he was about to lose the case.
Police arrested the shooter at the scene and seized the revolver used in the attack.
APEmergency vehicles rushed to the scene in Herdecke, Germany[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
