American woman arrested after being stabbed to death in Kaiserslautern

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — A 20-year-old American woman was taken into custody after fatally stabbing a 64-year-old man at Kaiserslautern Central Station over the weekend, police said Tuesday.

Military officials were not immediately able to say Tuesday whether the woman was affiliated with the Defense Department.

Kaiserslautern and its surrounding areas are home to the largest overseas U.S. military community.

Video footage from Saturday afternoon shows the man and woman taking the escalator one after the other from the entrance hall to the platform, according to German police authorities.

At the end of the escalator, the footage shows the man touching the woman's buttocks, which led to a verbal exchange, Kaiserslautern prosecutor Udo Gehring said in a statement Monday.

The video then shows the young woman unfolding a knife and pointing it at the man, Gehring said.

Initial investigations indicate that the suspect and the victim did not know each other prior to the incident, Gehring said.

Witnesses called emergency services shortly before 3:30 p.m. Despite prompt medical attention, the man succumbed to his injuries later that afternoon at a local hospital.

On Saturday, the federal police in the West Palatinate and Kaiserslautern temporarily stopped train traffic to search for the suspect. In the afternoon, the 20-year-old woman turned herself in at the police station in Landstuhl.

The Kaiserslautern prosecutor ordered an autopsy and issued an arrest warrant for the woman accused of involuntary manslaughter. She exercised her right to remain silent.

The woman, whose name has not been released due to strict German privacy laws, is considered a flight risk by prosecutors and remains in custody.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact Kaiserslautern police at 0631 369-2620.