Full story
Pride attack in Berlin
A van drove into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival on Saturday night, killing one person and injuring 29 others, and the suspect was later shot dead by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city.
“In brief - One dead and 16 injured in Berlin - The 21-year-old suspect is being sought - The Pride festivities were canceled More than 2,200 police officers were already mobilized to secure Berlin Pride”
AP reported that the suspect, Abdul Ballout, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin, and that prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group.
DW said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told Germany’s public broadcaster ARD that authorities see no indication of an ongoing threat after the suspected Berlin Pride attacker was shot dead, adding, "we do not believe there is any further danger."
Police said the main suspect was localized at a garden allotment in Spandau around 6 p.m. local time, and that he charged at officers while armed with a stabbing weapon before being shot and dying at the scene.
Identities, motives, and manhunt
BBC named the suspect as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout and said police confirmed he was shot and killed during a police operation in west Berlin after he rushed at officers with a knife.
AP said Ballout traveled to Lebanon in 2025 with the goal of going to Syria to join the Islamic State group, and that he was arrested in Lebanon last year and sentenced by a military court to three months’ imprisonment for offenses including incitement to religious and sectarian conflict.
DW reported that police were "not currently looking for others" after the suspect was shot dead, while Dobrindt said investigators continue to examine whether others may have been involved.
In Berlin, mourners and supporters gathered near the scene, and AP quoted Ashley Jump saying, "They’ll never erase us, we’ll never be gone," as she left flowers at a memorial near the crime scene.
Political fallout and next steps
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the incident as a "heinous" attack, and DW reported that Merz urged CSD supporters "not to be intimidated" while speaking at a traditional meal hosted by Libori Guild in Paderborn.
“The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack is killed in a confrontation with police The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack is killed in a confrontation with police BERLIN (AP) — The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said”
DW also said Merz told guests that "Violence begins with intolerance, with exclusion, with discrimination, with thoughtless remarks, and with bad jokes," linking the attack’s impact to broader social tensions.
AP said prosecutors said Ballout was suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival Saturday night before apparently stabbing others with a machete, and that police said a woman was killed.
The BBC said the Pride event was cancelled after the attack, with organisers taking to the stage and advising the crowd to start walking towards the exits, and it added that at about 03:30 police said on X they had identified a suspect with Islamist links and widened the search to the entire city.
