A five-year-old Russian boy has died at a refugee center in Arnschwang, Germany, after being stabbed to death by an Afghan man who was later shot dead by the police.

The assailant, 41, attacked with a knife for unknown reasons the boy and his mother, a 47-year-old woman of Russian origin. “The background of what has happened is still unclear,” a police spokesman said Sunday.

The boy died at the refugee center while his mother, with serious injuries, was taken to a hospital. A brother of the victim and son of the woman, aged six, witnessed the scene and suffered a shock. Other people who observed the crime, including several officers, were also affected by the commotion.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon at a refugee shelter in the Arnschwang district of south-east Germany. Police officers after being alerted of the attack, rushed to the building and, due the inability to stop the aggressor, opened fire on him several times causing his death.

German authorities are studying whether the intervention with firearms was appropriate. Police officers also focus their investigations on clarifying the relationship between the attacker and the victims.

-TN