Newly elected German mayor fights for life after being stabbed at home
The married mother-of-two was only elected last week
The newly elected mayor of a town in western Germany was found at her apartment with serious stab wounds.
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The attack on Iris Stalzer, 57, mayor-elect of Herdecke near the western city of Dortmund, took place at around noon near her own home, German media said.
She was discovered inside her apartment with life-threatening injuries and several stabbing wounds on her stomach and back, where her adopted son, 15, and daughter, 17, were both present.
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Police have reportedly arrested the boy, who told officers that Stalzer was attacked outside their home by 'several men on the street', reported German outlet Bild.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said she was the victim of "an abhorrent act".
Ms Saltzer is a member of the centre-left Social Democrats, the junior party in Germany's conservative-led national government.
German news agency dpa, citing unidentified security sources, reported that she was found with life-threatening injuries and had several stab wounds.
Police said there was a large operation under way in Herdecke.
Mr Merz wrote on social media that "we fear for the life of mayor-elect Iris Stalzer and hope for her full recovery".
The leader of the Social Democrats' parliamentary group in Berlin, Matthias Miersch, told reporters that "we heard a few minutes ago that newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was stabbed in Herdecke" and "we hope that she survives this terrible act".
"We can't say anything at the moment about the background," he added.
Ms Stalzer, who beat a candidate from Mr Merz's centre-right Christian Democrats in a runoff vote to win election, is due to take office on November 1.
Herdecke is a town of about 23,000 people in western Germany's Ruhr region, between the cities of Hagen and Dortmund.
Ms Stalzer's website says she is 57 and married with two teenage children.
It says she has spent almost her whole life in Herdecke and has worked as a lawyer specialising in labour law.