Attack and Manhunt
A driver struck a crowd near Berlin's annual Christopher Street Day Pride event in Tiergarten park on Saturday night, killing one person and leaving 17 others injured. The Berlin Police promptly launched a manhunt for the suspect, who was identified as 21-year-old Abdul B., a man known to law enforcement and linked to the Islamist spectrum, according to official statements from the Berlin Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Police Operation and Suspect Death
The manhunt ended on Sunday when police located the suspect at a garden allotment on Ruhlebener Strasse in the district of Spandau, on the western outskirts of Berlin, around 6 p.m. local time. According to a post on X, the suspect charged at officers while armed with a stabbing weapon, prompting police to open fire. Despite immediate resuscitation measures by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene. The police statement read: 'According to current findings, he is said to have rushed toward our emergency forces with a stabbing weapon, after which police firearms were used by our SEK Berlin.'
Official Reactions
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz strongly denounced the attack, describing it as an 'abhorrent event' and an 'Islamist terrorist attack.' He said, 'Our thoughts are with the victims of this Islamist terrorist attack,' and extended sympathies to the victims and their families. Merz urged the public to remain resilient: 'Let us not be intimidated by these crimes. They want to divide our society, they want to take the most important thing that we have: namely, our open society, our liberal society.' He added, 'We will not allow this poison of terrorism ... to spread in our society.'
Local Response and Investigation
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed gratitude to Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and federal law enforcement agencies for their coordination. Wegner stated, 'Yesterday Berlin had celebrated a great day. Berlin was colourful, Berlin showed how diverse and open this city is,' and described the ramming as an attack on 'our way of coexisting' and on 'our liberal democracy, openness and freedom.' He announced that flags at Berlin City Hall would fly at half-mast. Authorities noted that one or more individuals may have fled the scene in a vehicle, and investigations into possible accomplices remain ongoing.
