Iris Stalzer is shielded by emergency services as she is airlifted to hospital following the attack in Herdecke. Photo / Getty Images
Iris Stalzer is shielded by emergency services as she is airlifted to hospital following the attack in Herdecke. Photo / Getty Images
A German mayor is in a critical condition after being stabbed 13 times near her home, according to reports.
Iris Stalzer, 57, a member of the centre-left Social Democrats party, was found with multiple stab wounds by her adopted son at her flat in Herdecke on Tuesday (local time).
Theson, 15, was taken away in a forensic suit to preserve evidence, reports said.
Stalzer, who was airlifted to hospital following the attack, is receiving emergency treatment. According to German media, the incident is being investigated as an attempted murder.
She was found wounded around lunchtime on Tuesday, having reportedly dragged herself back inside her home, where she also lives with her 17-year-old daughter.
It was reported that her son had called the police, telling officers that she was attacked outside the apartment by a gang of men who stabbed her in the back and stomach.
Iris Stalzer's adopted 15-year-old son was taken away in a forensic suit to preserve evidence, reports said. Photo / Getty Images
Police began a manhunt for the alleged attackers, and the children were removed from the residence.
Stalzer was elected as the mayor of Herdecke, near the city of Dortmund, on September 28. She is a former labour lawyer who has worked for many years in local politics in Herdecke, which has a population of 20,000.
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, wrote on social media: “We have received news of a terrible deed in Herdecke. It must be swiftly investigated. We fear for the life of the mayor-designate, and hope for her full recovery.”
Local and regional authorities were not immediately available to comment.
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