First picture of son quizzed by cops after brutal stabbing of his mayor mum as she fights for her life in hospital

Stalzer allegedly told cops she ‘knew who committed the crime’ after briefly re-gaining consciousness

THIS is the first picture of the son detained by German police and quizzed over the brutal stabbing of his mum.

Police arrested the teenager and his 17-year-old sister after newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was allegedly knifed in a frenzied attack near her home.

Police officers placing a teenager into a police car.
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This is the first picture of the son detained by German policeCredit: Avalon.red

Police officers bringing a teenager to a police car in Herdecke.
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The teenager was led into a police van with a blanket wrapped around himCredit: Avalon.red

A woman speaking outdoors, wearing a dark blue blazer over a white shirt.
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Iris Stalzer, 57, was allegedly stabbed 13 times in the stomach and backCredit: Facebook.

Ambulance and emergency vehicles near houses where the newly elected mayor of Herdecke was injured in a knife attack.
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Forensic officers have been seen at the crime scene, assisting in the investigationCredit: EPA
Pictures show the teen being led away to a police van wrapped in a blanket after the horror.

Paramedics rushed the 57-year-old Social Democrat to hospital with life-threatening injuries from her apartment in Herdecke, North Rhine-Westphalia, at around lunchtime on Monday.

Initial reports said she was allegedly stabbed in the stomach and back and she crawled back inside the home.

The son told police that he found his mum inside their home following the brutal attack.

Her 17-year-old daughter was also inside the flat at the time, according to Bild.

The mayor – who is still in a critical condition – was “briefly responsive” with police this afternoon, according to Welt.

Stalzer was “awake a some point” and able to answer brief questions.

She allegedly said she “knew who committed the crime”, but gave no further details.

A special homicide squad from nearby Hagen are still investigating all possibilities, including whether the attack could be linked to family issues.

The stabbing comes just weeks after her adopted daughter allegedly lunged at her with a knife.

At least one dead & 3 others injured as knifeman goes on stabbing rampage in Germany after attacker storms office
Meanwhile, a neighbour claimed they heard the mother and son in a “screaming” match just half an hour before emergency services arrived on the scene, Bild reported.

Arguments happened frequently between the daughter and the mother, neighbours also alleged.

Stalzer had only been elected mayor for the 22,500-inhabitant town in the Ruhr region after a runoff vote on September 28.

She narrowly won with 52.2 per cent of the vote against centre-right Christian Democrat candidate Fabian Conrad Haas.

Emergency services attend to a critically injured person by a rescue helicopter in Herdecke.
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Emergency officials transport the newly elected German mayor to hospitalCredit: AP

Ambulance and police cars parked on a street in Herdecke, Germany.
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Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene in Herdecke, GermanyCredit: AP
Her term office is set to begin on November 1.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), spoke about the attack 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.”

The SPD parliamentary group leader in Berlin, Matthias Miersch, said he hopes Stalzer will “survive the terrible act.”

The case raises concerning memories of the 2019 murder of conservative local government president Walter Luebcke.

He was shot dead by a far-Right activist as he smoked a cigarette on his terrace at home.

Luebcke was a vocal supporter of former chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy.

Interior minister Nancy Faeser warned the case could confirm the “great danger posed by Islamist acts of violence.”

Two police officers in tactical vests with "POLIZEI" written on them, walking past a parked police van in Herdecke, Germany.
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Police officers continue to investigate the stabbingCredit: AP