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By Barney Henderson
Content Director
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A German mayor was stabbed 13 times outside her home on Tuesday and is in critical condition, according to reports.
Iris Stalzer, the newly-elected Social Democratic Party (SDP) mayor of Herdecke was able to drag herself into her house after the attack, broadcaster WDR reported. Her 15-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter were in the home.
The 57-year-old's son said that she had told him that several men attacked her in the street and she was stabbed in her stomach and back, reports said.
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Bild reported that said that Stalzer's son was taken from the scene in a forensic suit to preserve evidence.
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Police said that there was a large operation underway in Herdecke.
In a later statement, police and prosecuotrs said that they were "investigating in all directions" and that "a family background also cannot be ruled out at present."
Merz: 'Abhorrent Act'
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on X that he had received reports of an "abhorrent act" in Herdecke.
"We fear for the life of the designated mayor, Iris Stalzer, and hope for her full recovery," Merz wrote on the platform X.
"My thoughts are with her family and loved ones," he added.
Stalzer was elected as mayor of Herdecke, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, on September 28 with 52% of the vote.
She beat a candidate from Merz's center-right Christian Democrats in the runoff vote. She is due to take office on Nov. 1.
The leader of the Social Democrats' parliamentary group in Berlin, Matthias Miersch, said: "We heard a few minutes ago that newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was stabbed in Herdecke."
He said that "we hope that she survives this terrible act."
Stalzer's website says she has spent almost her whole life in Herdecke and has worked as a lawyer specializing in labor law.
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