Suspect in deadly Berlin Pride attack shot dead by police
One killed and 29 injured in attack near Pride celebrations
The suspected perpetrator of a deadly vehicle and knife attack near Berlin’s Pride celebrations has been shot dead during a police operation, German authorities and media reported on Sunday.
The 21-year-old suspect was tracked to an allotment garden in the western Berlin district of Spandau following an hours-long manhunt.
Police officers opened fire during a confrontation with the man, according to reports. The precise circumstances of the shooting have not yet been made public.
The suspect, named by German media as Abdul Ballout, was accused of driving a vehicle into a crowd near the Christopher Street Day celebrations on Saturday evening before attacking people with a machete.
One woman was killed and 29 people were injured, some seriously, according to German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. Four people remained in intensive care on Sunday, although none was considered to be in a life-threatening condition.
The attack took place in Berlin’s Tiergarten park, outside the Pride parade’s official route but close to where large numbers of participants were still gathered. Organisers brought the celebrations to an early end following the incident.
Dobrindt described the incident as an “Islamist terrorist attack”.
The suspect, a German national of Lebanese origin who was born in 2005, was reportedly known to security services and considered radicalised and prone to violence.
German media reported that he had previously attempted to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group. He was arrested at Berlin airport last year on suspicion of preparing a terrorist offence and remained in pre-trial detention until May.
He had also attended two meetings connected to a deradicalisation programme, although a decision had not yet been taken on whether he would receive longer-term support.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz attended a memorial service for the victims at St Mary’s Church in Berlin on Sunday.
“We will defend freedom,” Merz said, adding that Germany would not allow “the poison of terrorism” directed against its freedoms to spread through society.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner described the attack as an assault on the city’s values of freedom and diversity.
The incident has shocked Germany and its LGBTQ+ community. Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day is one of Europe’s largest Pride events and traditionally attracts hundreds of thousands of people.
Investigators are continuing to examine the suspect’s background and whether anyone else assisted in planning or carrying out the attack.