Dozens were injured and at least two people, including a young child, were killed on Friday when a car plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, in what local authorities are describing as a terrorist attack.
At least 68 others were injured, 15 of them critically, according to city officials.
Media outlets have now revealed the identity of the suspect, and investigations have examined his social media posts.
The driver was immediately arrested and later identified as Taleb A., a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor. Saxony’s Prime Minister, Reiner Haseloff, stated that the suspect had been living in Germany since 2006. Taleb A., a consultant in psychiatry and psychotherapy, had been recognized as a refugee in 2016.
Several German media outlets have highlighted the suspect’s past social media posts, in which he expressed critical views about Islam and even warned of the “dangers” of an Islamization of Germany.
Footage from the scene showed the suspect lying on the ground, with his head raised, near a heavily damaged black car. A police officer, several meters away, was pointing a drawn weapon at him while shocked bystanders looked on.
“As things stand, he is the sole perpetrator, so, as far as we know, there is no further risk to the city,” Haseloff said.
The suspect rented the car shortly before the attack, according to reports citing a security source. Authorities have noted that he was not known to have any “Islamic background.”
The attack occurred when a black BMW drove directly into the crowd at the Christmas market, speeding for 400 meters toward the town hall, according to eyewitnesses, as reported by The Guardian, and transmitted by Gazeta Express.
A woman who spoke to the regional newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung said the attacker “deliberately drove into the part of the Christmas market decorated with fairy-tale scenes,” where many families with young children were gathered. She told the newspaper that she had just managed to pull herself and her child out of the car’s path.
Following the incident, police cleared an area around the car to investigate any potential explosive devices, reported local broadcaster MDR. They later stated that no such device had been found.
A police operation was also underway in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, where the suspect is believed to have lived, according to Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.
Police were not immediately available to comment on reports about a suspicious article or the operation in Bernburg.
“Reports from Magdeburg raise the worst fears,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on social media platform X. He is set to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday along with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, according to their spokespersons.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier wrote that “the expectation of a peaceful Christmas was suddenly interrupted” by the attack, but warned that “the background of this horrific act is still being clarified.”
Alice Weidel, leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has focused on jihadist attacks in its anti-immigrant campaign, wrote on X: “When will this madness stop?”
