Who is Magdeburg market attack suspect? What we know so far

On Friday night, a person ploughed a automobile right into a crowd of customers at a Christmas market within the German metropolis of Magdeburg.

The assault killed 5 individuals, together with a nine-year-old little one, and left greater than 200 injured, with many in a crucial situation.

A decide has ordered the pre-trial detention of a 50-year-old man arrested on suspicion of finishing up the assault.

Police imagine he acted alone.

At 19:02 native time (18:02 GMT), the primary name to emergency companies was made.

The caller reported {that a} automobile had pushed right into a crowd at a Christmas market in the midst of city.

The caller assumed it was an accident, police mentioned, but it surely quickly turned clear this wasn’t the case.

The driving force, police mentioned, had used visitors lights to show off the highway and onto a pedestrian crossing, main him by means of an entry level to the market which was reserved for emergency automobiles, injuring plenty of individuals on the way in which.

Unverified footage on social media confirmed the motive force dashing the automobile by means of a pedestrian walkway between Christmas stalls.

Eyewitnesses described leaping out of the automobile’s path, fleeing or hiding.

Police mentioned the motive force then returned to the highway the way in which he got here in and was pressured to cease in visitors. Officers already on the market had been capable of apprehend and arrest the motive force right here.

Footage confirmed armed police confronting and arresting a person who may be seen mendacity on the bottom subsequent to a stationary automobile – a black BMW with vital harm to its entrance bumper and windscreen.

Your complete incident was over in three minutes, police mentioned.

A nine-year-old boy and 4 girls are confirmed to have died within the assault.

Greater than 200 individuals have been injured and at the very least 41 of these are in a crucial situation.

The toll had earlier been reported as two lifeless and 68 injured, however was revised to the a lot greater totals on Saturday morning.

Not one of the victims have been recognized but however police in Magdeburg mentioned late on Saturday that they had been aged 45, 52, 67 and 75.

The suspect has been recognized in native media reviews as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, the BBC understands.

He’s a 50-year-old Saudi-born psychiatrist who lives in Bernburg, round 40km (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.

He has been remanded in custody on suspicion of 5 counts of homicide, a number of tried murders and harmful bodily hurt, police say.

The motive behind the assault stays unclear however authorities have reported that they imagine he carried out the assault alone.

Al-Abdulmohsen arrived in Germany in 2006 and in 2016 was recognised as a refugee.

Germany’s Inside Minister Nancy Faeser informed reporters that it was “clear to see” that the suspect holds “Islamophobic” views.

The suspect is an outspoken critic of Islam on social media, and has promoted conspiracy theories relating to an alleged plot by German authorities to Islamicise Europe.

A report from Der Spiegel mentioned a criticism was filed towards Taleb A with the authorities a 12 months in the past over statements which officers concluded didn’t represent a concrete risk.

“The reviews from Magdeburg increase the worst fears,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned on social media platform X.

Magdeburg’s metropolis councillor for public order, Ronni Krug, mentioned the Christmas market will keep closed and that “Christmas in Magdeburg is over”, in response to German public broadcaster MDR.

That sentiment was echoed in the marketplace’s web site, which within the wake of the assault featured solely a black display screen with phrases of mourning, saying that the market was over.

The Saudi authorities expressed “solidarity with the German individuals and the households of the victims”, in an announcement on X, and “affirmed its rejection of violence”.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer mentioned he was “horrified by the atrocious assault in Magdeburg”, including that his ideas had been with “the victims, their households and all these affected” in a put up on X on Friday night time.