A newly-elected German mayor has been left in a critical condition after being stabbed outside her home.<\/p>\n
Iris Stalzer, a Social Democrat who was elected mayor of Herdecke in the Ruhr region a week ago, was reportedly found by her son on Tuesday, local time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
German news agency dpa, citing unidentified security sources, reported that she was found with life-threatening injuries and had several stabbing wounds.<\/p>\n
Newspaper Bild said that Ms Stalzer’s 15-year-old adopted son had been taken from the scene in handcuffs and wearing an evidence-preserving overall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her 17-year-old adopted daughter was also at home, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Police and emergency services stand on a street in Herdecke. (AP: Bernd Thissen\/dpa\u00a0)<\/p>\n
“Investigators said this was purely to protect evidence,” the newspaper added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The son told police that his mother had been attacked by several men, Bild said.<\/p>\n
Ms Stalzer had dragged herself back into her house after being stabbed around midday, broadcaster WDR reported.<\/p>\n
German chancellor Friedrich Merz called the incident an “abhorrent act”.<\/p>\n
“We fear for the life of the mayor-elect, Iris Stalzer, and hope for a full recovery,” he said on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Police said there was a large operation underway in Herdecke. (Reuters: Leon Kuegeler)<\/p>\n
Police searching for evidence have sealed off the road around her house.<\/p>\n
The leader of the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group in Berlin, Matthias Miersch, told reporters that “we heard a few minutes ago that newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was stabbed in Herdecke.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said that “we hope that she survives this terrible act.”<\/p>\n
“We can’t say anything at the moment about the background,” he added.<\/p>\n
A 57-year-old mother of two teenagers, Ms Stalzer is a labour lawyer who has worked for many years in the local politics of Herdecke, an ancient town of some 20,000.<\/p>\n
The case raises memories of the 2019 murder of conservative local government president Walter Luebcke, a supporter of then Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, who was shot dead by a far-right activist as he smoked a late-night cigarette on his terrace at home.<\/p>\n
Police said there was a large operation under way in Herdecke.<\/p>\n
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