Suspect in German Christmas market attack faces murder charges | Crime news

A man is accused of driving a car into crowds at a German Christmas market, killing five people and… More than 200 were injuredHe is detained on multiple charges of murder and attempted murder.

The Magdeburg Police Department said in a statement on Sunday that the man had been issued a pretrial detention warrant on five counts of murder, as well as multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.

The police statement said that the dead were a nine-year-old boy and four women, aged 52, 45, 75 and 67 years. Among the wounded, about 40 are in serious or serious condition.

Authorities said the suspected attacker used emergency exit routes to reach the Christmas market grounds, where he sped his car through crowds, striking more than 200 people in a rampage that lasted three minutes. He was arrested at the scene.

Rising tensions

The attack, which occurred on Friday evening in the central German city of Magdeburg, shocked Germany and reignited rising tensions over the immigration issue.

The suspect, named Talib A, is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric, and has lived in Germany for nearly two decades.

The motive for the attack remains unclear, but Magdeburg prosecutor Horst Nobbens said on Saturday that one possible factor could be what he described as the suspect’s frustration with Germany’s handling of Saudi refugees.

The suspected attacker had made death threats online against German citizens and had a history of disputes with state authorities, leading German media to question whether the government could have done more to prevent the attack.

The news magazine Der Spiegel, citing security sources, said that Saudi intelligence had warned the German spy agency BND a year ago about a tweet in which Talib threatened that Germany would pay a “price” for its treatment of Saudi refugees.

In August, he wrote on social media: “Is there a path to justice in Germany without bombing a German embassy or randomly slaughtering German citizens?… If anyone knows, please let me know.”

Die Welt daily newspaper, citing security sources, also reported that German federal and state police conducted a “risk assessment” on a student last year but concluded that he did not pose a “specific risk.”

Encouraging the extreme right

Police reported quarrels and “minor disturbances” during a far-right demonstration in Magdeburg on Saturday evening, attended by about 2,100 people.

The demonstrators, some of whom wore black masks, carried a large banner reading “Reimmigration,” a term used by far-right supporters who call for the mass deportation of immigrants and individuals who are not considered to be of German origin.

The incident comes before A Pivotal elections In Germany on February 23, which sparked sharp criticism from far-right and far-left parties opposed to the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Bernd Baumann, parliamentary leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, called on Schulz to call a special session of the Bundestag on the “desolate” security situation, saying that “this is the least we owe to the victims.”

Meanwhile, the head of the far-left Sahra-Wagenknecht coalition party, Sahira Wagenknecht, demanded that Interior Minister Nancy Wieser explain “why so much advice and warnings were ignored in advance.”

Schulz condemned the “terrible and insane” attack, calling for national unity.

In the past, the suspect expressed his support on the social media platform X for the AfD party as well as for American billionaire Elon Musk, who supported the AfD. The party has a strong support base in former East Germany, where the city of Magdeburg is located. Its members, including chancellor Alice Weidel, planned to organize a march in Magdeburg on Monday evening.