The man suspected of killing a railway attendant in Rhineland-Palatinate was reportedly already in the spotlight that same day. According to a Spiegel article, federal police removed the 26‑year‑old at 11:50 am in Kaiserslautern from a TGV arriving from France after he had kicked a door. The crew immediately alerted the authorities. Because the door was undamaged and the passenger possessed a valid ticket, no criminal charges followed.
Later that day, at 5:45 pm, the same individual was inspected in a regional express near Landstuhl by a 36‑year‑old conductor who intended to remove him for a missing ticket. The man reacted violently, striking the employee with fists; the attendant subsequently died in hospital.
The suspect was registered in Luxembourg, but Luxembourg authorities did not list him as a missing person until Tuesday. Consequently, German investigators had no description of the man on the day of the incident.