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Germany: Teacher injured in Essen school stabbing

Farah Bahgat with dpa, AFP
September 5, 2025

A suspect was shot at before being taken into custody in a large police operation after a teacher was stabbed in the stomach in western Germany.

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Police officers are on duty at a vocational college in Essen
Police were on site with a large number of officers and cordoned off the vocational schoolImage: Justin Brosch/dpa/picture alliance

Police in the western German city of Essen took a suspect into custody after a teacher was attacked with a knife at a vocational college on Friday. 

Authorities said they no longer considered the situation to be dangerous. 

What we know about the attack

Special SEK police units, akin to a SWAT team in the United States, had been deployed to a vocational college in the city after reports of the stabbing.

Authorities said a teacher at the school was stabbed in her stomach and had to undergo emergency surgery. No additional details of her condition were provided.   

The German news agency dpa reported that the suspect is believed to be a 17-year-old who attends the school. 

He had been at large shortly after the attack. Police said they "used firearms in the arrest, during which the suspect was injured."

Authorities are "absolutely certain" that the suspect is the attacker, according to a spokesperson quoted by dpa. He was taken into custody near the central train station in Essen. 

Edited by: Sean Sinico