Magdeburg market attack in Germany: Who is the suspect and what do we know at this stage?

On Friday evening, a man drove his car into a crowd of shoppers at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg.

The attack left five people dead, including a nine-year-old child, and more than 200 injured, several of whom were in critical condition.

A man has been arrested and is currently being questioned, German authorities have confirmed. Police believe he acted alone.

At 7:02 p.m. local time (18:02 GMT), the first call to emergency services was made.

The caller reported that a car had driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in the middle of town.

The caller assumed it was an accident, police said, but it quickly became clear that was not the case.

Police say the driver used the traffic lights to veer off the road and into a crosswalk, which led him to drive through an emergency vehicle entry point to the market, injuring several people. people in its path.

Unverified footage posted on social media showed the driver speeding through a pedestrian walkway between Christmas stalls.

Eyewitnesses described jumping out of the car's path, running away or hiding.

Police say the driver then drove back the way he came and was forced to stop in traffic. Officers who were already at the market were able to apprehend and arrest the driver.

The footage shows armed police confronting and arresting a man who is seen lying on the ground next to a stationary vehicle – a black BMW with its front bumper and windshield suffered significant damage.

The incident was over within three minutes, according to police.

The deaths of a nine-year-old child and four adults have been confirmed.

More than 200 people were injured and at least 41 of them are in critical condition.

The toll, which reported two deaths and 68 injured, was revised upwards on Saturday morning.

None of the victims have yet been identified.

The suspect was identified in local media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, according to the BBC.

He is a 50-year-old psychiatrist who lives in Bernburg, about 40 km south of Magdeburg.

The suspect is currently being questioned and prosecutors hope to charge him with murder and attempted murder in due course, the head of the local prosecutor's office said Saturday.

The motive for the attack is unclear, but authorities said they believe he carried it out alone.

Originally from Saudi Arabia, he arrived in Germany in 2006 and was granted refugee status in 2016.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters it was “obvious” the suspect held “Islamophobic” views.

The suspect is an open critic of Islam on social media and has promoted conspiracy theories regarding an alleged plot by German authorities to Islamize Europe.

According to Der Spiegel, a complaint was filed against Taleb A with authorities a year ago for statements that officials concluded did not constitute a concrete threat.

“The news from Magdeburg arouses the worst fears,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on the social media platform X.

Magdeburg city councilor for public order Ronni Krug said the Christmas market would remain closed and that “Christmas in Magdeburg is over”, according to German public broadcaster MDR.

This sentiment was echoed on the market's website, which, the day after the attack, displayed only a black screen with words of mourning, announcing that the market had ended.

The Saudi government expressed its “solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims,” in a statement on X, and “affirmed its rejection of violence.”

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “horrified by the horrific attack in Magdeburg”, adding that his thoughts were “with the victims, their families and all those affected”, in a message posted on X Friday evening.