Mass attack at Christmas market in Germany: the suspect is a doctor, what is known?

A driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market this Friday in Magdeburg, a city in northern Germany, killing at least two people and injuring 68 others, local authorities said, considering the hypothesis of a ” attempt”.

Among the fatalities are a man and a minor, the Prime Minister of Saxony Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, informed the media at the scene of the tragedy. According to the city of Magdeburg in a statement, there are currently 15 serious injuries, 37 moderate injuries and 16 minor injuries, that is, 68 in total.

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About 100 firefighters are at the scene, in addition to seven units of the professional and volunteer fire department and 50 first responders, who care for the injured in tents and transport them to different hospitals in the area.

What is known about the suspect?

German police reported that they arrested a Saudi citizen after the deadly mass vehicle crash. The suspect, whose name is unknown, is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, resident in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the east of the country, declared the regional prime minister, Reiner Haseloff, at the scene.

“We have arrested the perpetrator, a man from Saudi Arabia, a doctor who has been in Germany since 2006,” he told the press, calling the attack a “catastrophe” for the city and the country. “From what we currently know he was a lone attacker, so we don’t believe there is any further danger.”

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Police said the vehicle traveled “at least 400 meters through the Christmas market” leaving behind a trail of bloodied wounded in the central square of the city’s town hall.

Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the chaotic scene, covered in blue emergency lights and sirens, and the seriously injured were treated on the ground or taken to hospitals.

Screams and cries could be heard while A hundred police, doctors and firefighters were deployed through the market, full of garbage and decorated with Christmas trees and festive lights..

Tamara Zieschang, the Minister of the Interior of Saxony Anhalt, assured that the Saudi acted alone and lived in Bernburg, about 50 kilometers from Magdeburg.

According to the newspaper ‘BILD’, heavily armed forces forcibly entered a house on a street in the city, but at the moment it is unknown if the operation was related to the attack.

Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler told the second public television channel ZDF that the fact that a car attack was successful points to a failure in the security concept. Furthermore, he maintained that the profile of the perpetrator is unusual, both due to age and nationality, since the attackers so far have been around twenty years old and since 2001 there has not been a terrorist attack by a Saudi author.

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Lack of security?

It is unknown how the man was able to enter the Christmas market, right in the center and next to the City Hall, given that German cities have reinforced the security of these places with bollards after the attack perpetrated in Berlin on December 19, 2016, in in which 13 people died after being run over by a truck.

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That this attack occurred eight years after the attack on the Berlin Christmas market appears to be intentional.Haseloff said at a later press conference.

The mayor of Magdeburg, Simone Borris, could not hold back her tears and thanked the security forces and first responders for their work.

He announced a memorial service for the victims this Saturday afternoon at the city’s cathedral and expressed hope that citizens will be able to live together in a good way again after what will be a “long phase of mourning.”

The United States offers its help

This Friday, the United States expressed its condolences to Germany for the mass accident at a Christmas market. “The United States is shocked and saddened by the tragic news from Magdeburg,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Miller sent his “deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased and injured, and to all those affected by this terrible incident.”

The spokesperson added that the Joe Biden Administration stands ready to provide assistance as recovery efforts continue and authorities investigate this horrific incident. “Germany is one of our closest partners and strongest allies, and we stand with them today and in the coming weeks. There is no place for violence in our societies,” he stated.