Shocked neighbours say Afghan knifeman who stabbed six and killed a police officer at an anti-Islam rally in Germany has ‘radicalised’ over the last year

Shocked neighbours of the Afghan knifeman who stabbed six and killed a police officer in Germany as the attack was livestreamed online said he has ‘radicalised’ over the last year.

The police announced that the officer, who was stabbed in the neck and back during Friday’s attack, died in hospital today while his killer is still alive after being shot at the scene. 

The attacker has been identified as Sulaiman Ataee, 25, who immigrated to Germany from Afghanistan in 2014 when he was just 15.

He lives with his German wife and their two children, aged almost 1 and 3, in a flat in Heppenheim – just a 25-minute drive from the market square where he stabbed six people.

‘He used to be normal,’ 31-year-old Abdul, who lives in the same building, told MailOnline after another resident said to local media that Ataee ‘has radicalised’ over the last few months.

The attacker has been identified as Sulaiman Ataee, who immigrated to Germany from Afghanistan in 2014 when he was just 15

Chaos broke out at the anti-Islam rally on Friday when a man dressed in a dark hooded jacket and tracksuit tackled a BPE member to the ground and began violently swinging a large blade at him

He lives with his German wife and their two children, aged almost 1 and 3, in a flat in Heppenheim – just a 25-minute drive from the market square where he stabbed six people (block of flat the attacker lives in pictured above)

German police officers commemorate a colleague in Mannheim Germany, after learning that a police officer, who was stabbed two days ago there has died on Sunday, June 2, 2024

When MailOnline rings the doorbell for his flat in the high-rise southwest of the city centre, no one answers. The flat is deserted and the curtains are drawn

‘I have seen him sometimes with his wife and his children, but I don’t know that much about him,’ Abdul added.

‘He was inconspicuous, we greeted each other usually,’ one neighbour told Bild. 

‘But recently, about a year ago, I noticed that he had changed. He was helpful before, then suddenly he turned cold. He suddenly became more reserved – and also more aggressive.’

‘He has changed,’ another confirmed to Focus, adding that Ataee appeared ‘slightly more aggressive’, which they said caused friction in the building.

When MailOnline rings the doorbell for his flat in the high-rise southwest of the city centre, no one answers. The flat is deserted and the curtains are drawn.

Ataee, who police said has a valid residence permit for Germany, is said to have lived in the estate for three years, in a flat on the ninth floor of the 14-storey building.

Ataee rented his two-bedroom flat of just under 1000 square feet for roughly 800 euros a month. It is not yet known whether he was gainfully employed or whether he survived on benefits.

Ataee, who police said has a valid residence permit for Germany, is said to have lived in the estate for three years, in a flat on the ninth floor of the 14-storey building

Knifeman Ataee, who is said to own a VW Passat car, ‘didn’t look like a bad guy’, a neighbour said. ‘I would have never expected him to do something like that’

The attacker’s flat is located in a populated area of Heppenheim, with a bus stop right outside the estate and several shops and restaurants in walking distance

Locals in Mannheim have been left shocked by the frenzied attack and came to the market square to lay down flowers and light candles for the victims

Residents in Mannheim city centre were seen visibly upset while laying flowers and lighting candles at the seen of yesterday’s stabbing incident

‘I was flabbergasted when I heard that the man who stabbed people in Mannheim lived in our house,’ a resident said in a conversation with local newspaper Echo

The killer’s flat is located in a populated area, with a bus stop right outside the estate and several shops and restaurants in walking distance.

There are also two playgrounds nearby. ‘I saw him on the playground with the children just a few days ago,’ a resident told outlet Focus.

‘I was flabbergasted when I heard that the man who stabbed people in Mannheim lived in our house,’ another said in a conversation with local newspaper Echo.

Knifeman Ataee, who is said to own a VW Passat car, ‘didn’t look like a bad guy’. The man added: ‘I would have never expected him to do something like that.’

‘In hindsight you have to be glad that nothing happened to you,’ a neighbour said to Bild.

In a building with 14 residential flats, it’s easy to keep to oneself, which Ataee mostly did, according to a man living in the area.

The 35-year-old, whose parents live in the same high-rise as the knifeman, told MailOnline: ‘None of the residents who I know or my parents know have seen the police even raid the flat on Friday night – let alone the attacker.’

One neighbour told Focus about Ataee’s wife: ‘She was cold, not as friendly as him.’ Another added that while both were quiet and appeared friendly, they never really spoke to anyone at all.

‘I just feel sorry for his wife and kids. They have to suffer now because of what that man did,’ a woman, who lives on the same floor as the killer, said.

Some living in the estate said the wife, who always wore a hijab and glasses, disappeared before police searched the family home late Friday and her current whereabouts are not known.

It is also unclear whether she knew about the attack beforehand. But a member of the building’s board told local Mannheimer Morgenpost: ‘They probably knew what he was planning to do.’

Ataee was not known to be a member in the local Anas Ibn Malik Mosque and didn’t regularly come to pray there, insiders told local media.

Officials from the mosque said they were horrified by the attack and emphasized that they ‘condemn any form of violence and clearly distance themselves from extremist views’.

During the search of the attacker’s home – which lasted only two hours – investigators seized several data carriers for analysis.

‘It is definitely scary, this is our way home. We walk past [the market square] daily and will think about what happened here and that it could happen again any day,’ 22-year-old student Emilia, who came to the scene to put down a bouquet, told MailOnline

Tensions are high as far-right campaigners claim the stabbing would not have happened if Ataee was made to ‘remigrate’ back to Afghanistan

Heavy police presence in Mannheim city centre today as left and right wing parties came together to voice there views

But chaos broke out when far-left Antifa activists started their chants as they pushed forward, which caused dozens of armed police officers run to their group and herd them together as they aimed pepper spray at the group

At least one man was arrested and led one of the many police vans at the scene in handcuffs

Heavy police presence in the city centre today as two protesting groups came together following Friday’s attack

This is the Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallklinik Ludwigshafen, 15 minutes from the scene of the stabbing. The victims and the attacker are said to be receiving treatment in this hospital

German police officers take off their caps in Mannheim Germany, after learning that a police officer, who was stabbed two days ago there has died on Sunday, June 2, 2024

The city of Mannheim has been in deep shock since the attack, as locals have revealed.

Tensions are high as far-right campaigners claim the stabbing would not have happened if Ataee was made to ‘remigrate’ back to Afghanistan.

Members of the right-wing AfD and Junge Freiheit parties held a protest on Mannheim’s market square on Sunday afternoon, as pro-peace activists held a counter protest.

But chaos broke out when far-left Antifa activists started their chants as they pushed forward, which caused dozens of armed police officers run to their group and herd them together as they aimed pepper spray at the group.

At least one man was arrested and led one of the many police vans at the scene in handcuffs.