Marcus Soder said it was a terrible day and called for a pause: “We mourn the loss of a young, innocent child.”
Police said they were investigating a motive and the background to the attack was unclear. The suspect is said to have been staying at a residence for asylum seekers.
Chancellor Olaf Schulz, visiting France, condemned the “unbelievable act of terrorism”. He posted on social media that he was tired of seeing “such acts of violence every few weeks” and urged authorities to find out why the suspect was still in Germany.
The German government is under increasing pressure to crack down on immigration after several deadly attacks and with federal elections on February 23, the anti-immigration, far-right AfD is second in the polls.
In December, a man drove his car into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing five people. A Saudi doctor has been charged with the attack.
In August, three people were stabbed to death in the town of Solingen. The suspect was a Syrian citizen who was facing deportation after failing to obtain political asylum.
The attack prompted the German government to expand border checks and tighten controls on knives, and fueled a fierce debate over asylum laws that continues in the run-up to next month’s election.
The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is currently leading the polls, with Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) in third place.
The elections were called after the schools’ three-party coalition collapsed in November.
