Synagogue attacker moved to new jail after taking hostages

Balliet took two guards hostage Dec. 13 on the Burg high-security jail close to the japanese metropolis of Magdeburg. Different guards overwhelmed him inside an hour, authorities stated. He was injured within the incident, whereas the hostages had been freed unhurt.

State safety officers in Saxony-Anhalt, the place the Burg facility is positioned, stated that primarily based on what Balliet might be heard saying on surveillance footage, they assumed he was making an attempt to flee from the jail.

Armed with a number of firearms and explosives, Balliet attacked the synagogue in Halle on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, in 2019. After failing to interrupt down the synagogue door, he killed a passer-by and a person inside a close-by fast-food restaurant.

The antisemitic assault precipitated shock in Germany, which has sought to make amends for the Holocaust and to guard Jews who returned to the nation after World Conflict II.

Balliet tried to flee from one other jail whereas nonetheless on trial. He was sentenced to life in jail in 2020.

Germany’s high safety official referred to as on the nation’s jail operators to evaluation their safety measures after final week’s hostage taking.