Four days after a knife attack that left a man and a 2-year-old boy dead, the German city of Aschaffenburg is holding a memorial service.

The city of Aschaffenburg is holding a memorial service on Sunday after a man wielding a knife killed two people and seriously injured three more.

An Afghan asylum seeker who was due to be deported was arrested after the Wednesday attack, triggering renewed debate about immigration ahead of Germany’s national general election next month.

The attacker targeted a group of children in a park, killing a 2-year-old Moroccan boy and a 41-year-old German man who was trying to protect the youngsters.

He wounded three others, among them a Syrian girl aged two, who sustained neck wounds.

What we know about the service
The ecumenical service at Aschaffenburg’s Stiftskirche church was scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. local time (0930 GMT/UTC).

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was set to attend as well as Bavarian state premier Markus Söder.

Catholic Bishop of Würzburg Franz Jung and the Protestant Bishop of Aschaffenburg, Christian Kopp, were set to jointly conduct the service.

The mayor of the nearby city of Würzburg, Jürgen Herzing, was set to give a speech.

Islamic representatives were also due to be involved in the ecumenical service.

What happened after the attack?
The 28-year-old Afghan suspect, who has been only partially named under German media guidelines as Enamullah O, had a history of mental health troubles, officials said.

According to German media, the man was believed to have had psychological issues and had received treatment several times.

He was transferred to a closed psychiatric institution the day after the attack.

In light of the incident, the conservative frontrunner to become chancellor after the February 23 election, Friedrich Merz, promised a “fundamental” overhaul of asylum rules and permanent border control.

Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance currently leads in the polls with about 30% support while the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) is in second with 20%.

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