An Irishman who went on a stabbing rampage across the borders of the Netherlands and Germany died after he was struck by an oncoming vehicle.
His three victims are in the hospital and are said to be seriously injured.
On Tuesday evening police confirmed the dead man's identity as Enda McLaughlin from Carndonagh, County Donegal. The 27-year-old man had 23 previous convictions, including assault. He had been released from prison, in Ireland, in April 2014.
The first incident in the stabbing spree took place in the Dutch city of Heerlen on Monday, the Irish Independent reports. McLaughlin hailed a taxi and asked the driver to take him to Aachen, a city across the border in Germany.
When the taxi arrived in Aachen, instead of paying the fare the Irishman stabbed the driver, leaving the 50-year-old in serious condition.
His next victim was a German man who was parking his car. The attacker ordered the man to give him his money, and when it became clear that he had none the Irishman stabbed him and fled.
He then hailed another taxi and asked to be taken to Cologne. En route, the driver received a transmission about a dangerous man in the area, which his passenger did not seem to understand because it was in German.
The driver pulled over under the pretense of giving McLaughlin a chance to stretch his legs and sped away as soon as he exited the vehicle.
In a nearby parking lot, the man attacked a Lithuanian truck driver, who was hospitalized in critical condition.
The attacker then ran on to the highway, where he was struck and killed by an oncoming car driven by two British tourists.
Media reports claimed that McLaughlin was carrying an identification card associated with the Irish Prison Service, however they claim to be unaware of any connection.
The Irish Independent spoke to locals from his home town of Carndonagh. One local told the newspaper "He's had a challenging life and he's made many challenges to the community."
In 2007 McLaughlin made the headlines in Ireland when he launched an unprovoked attack on a circus worker who was visiting his area. He was jailed for 18 months.
The Irish Mirror reports that in 2010 McLaughlin warned the police "I am going to kill myself or someone else.”
When a judge asked if he was going to deal with his alcoholism McLaughlin replied, “Yes – if you shoot me."
He was given another two-year jail sentence in 2012 when he was convicted of stabbing a man at a house party with a wine bottle he had smashed over his head. At the time Letterkenny District Court heard that nearly all his previous convictions were the result of his addiction to alcohol.
Irish police (Gardai) established his identity using fingerprints provided by the German authorities.
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