Drug-Induced Knife Attacker Assaults Own Family + Video and Pictures

Witnesses recounted the details of the incident.

Photo: Kisalföld / Istvan Kerekes

"She seemed disturbed, as if she were drunk or under the influence of drugs," – this is how the woman who called the police to the scene described to the Kisalföld newspaper a young girl who stabbed four people, including her family members, in Mosonmagyarovar on Saturday. The girl was arrested by TEK and police officers after spending several hours inside a tobacco shop.

According to the newspaper, a witness was on his way home when he saw the girl waving a knife on the main street, in front of the tobacco shop. After she cut one man, she sat down on the sidewalk before entering the shop. Inside, she told the shop assistant to leave, then stayed and caused considerable physical damage. The assistant eventually slammed the door shut on the young girl. It was after this that authorities arrived at the scene and took her into custody.

The offender was a drug addict

According to a reports on Hungary's public television, 

the 19-year-old girl had a drug problem, confirmed by the family's neighbors. Her family had to call the police on several occasions before.

"The girl is also known to have been in and out of rehab, but these attempts were unsuccessful, and she was released several times. She was regularly seen under the influence of drugs," – the public TV correspondent said.

According to the Kisalfold newspaper, the young offender had disappeared from her home in Mosonmagyarovar earlier and gave no sign of life, so her whereabouts were unknown, and police were looking for her.

The girl was prosecuted for attempted manslaughter.

Investigators are still looking into the background of the tragedy and the possible motive.

"We were on our way home when we saw a girl waving a knife in front of a tobacco store and cutting a man. She then sat down on the sidewalk before entering the shop. Inside, she instructed the shop assistant to leave, who rushed out immediately. The girl stayed inside, holding onto the door from the inside, which was then locked by the police," – said Klara Volgyesi-Domonkos, a staff member at the Family Support Center, who alerted the police to the scene. She and her husband observed the operation, which lasted more than three hours and was aided by the Counter-Terrorism Center's (TEK) operations unit.

Thanks to the shop's security camera, they were able to monitor the girl’s actions on the shop assistant's phone: she smashed a laptop and damaged several other items.

She didn’t know what she was doing

As reported by Magyar Nemzet, the owner of the tobacco store – who was defended from the knife-wielding girl by a passerby later stabbed by the same offender in Mosonmagyaróvár – gave an interview to Bors. "First, she came into our shop with a knife in her hand. She took a water bottle from the first fridge, then sat down on the floor in front of the third fridge. I'll be honest, I didn’t know what to do. I tried to tell her to leave, but she didn’t react to anything. You could tell she didn’t know what she was doing," – the owner recalled.

That's when an elderly gentleman in his 60s entered the shop. He quickly noticed the knife in the girl’s hand and wanted to protect the owner.

"The older gentleman tried to help. He also tried to talk to the girl, who then began waving and wielding the knife toward him. The man tried to take it away from her and eventually managed to push her out of the shop. I immediately hit the panic button and dialed the emergency services. Out on the street, the girl stabbed the old man and then walked into another tobacco shop next door," – the shop owner recalled. He added that they then waited for the ambulance, which took the old man, a real hero, away.

Cover photo: Police in action (Photo: Kisalföld/Istvan Kerekes)