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Berlin Pride ramming
A white van drove into crowds at Berlin’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations on Saturday night, killing one person and injuring at least 16 others before crashing into a tree in the German capital.
France 24 reported that police and prosecutors issued a wanted notice for a 21-year-old identified as Abdul B and warned the public to avoid “direct contact” with him.
The BBC later said one woman was killed and at least 29 others were injured after the van was driven into a crowd at a Berlin Pride event at about 22:00 local time.
The BBC also said the Pride event was cancelled shortly afterwards, with organisers advising the crowd to start walking towards the exits as “evacuation” was projected onto a large screen on the stage.
Suspect killed, officials react
Police and prosecutors said the suspect was shot and killed during a police operation in west Berlin, with the BBC reporting that Abdul Ballout was killed during a police operation in a suburb of the city.
The BBC said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the incident as a “heinous” attack, while AP reported that Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the attack occurred a few hundred meters from a party near the Brandenburg Gate.
AP described how Ballout was tracked down around 6 p.m. Sunday at a garden in Spandau, and said police fired at least one shot after he rushed at officers with a knife.
In a separate account, France 24 said Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed shock, saying that “following a peaceful and vibrant Pride parade, the rally for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal manner”.
Europe-wide implications
European leaders condemned the attack, with the BBC reporting that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her sympathy to the victims and said the Pride event stands for “freedom, dignity, and equality - the fundamental values of the EU”.
The BBC also said Rob Jetten, prime minister of the Netherlands, said the Dutch stand “shoulder to shoulder with our German neighbours”, while Italy’s prime minister Georgia Meloni expressed “solidarity and sincere sympathy”.
In Germany, the BBC said police confirmed they had found the vehicle believed to have been used in the attack after it crashed into a tree, and it was believed to have been rented.
The BBC further reported that police said the search involved thousands of police, including officers from surrounding German states, and that on Sunday police officers stood guard outside an apartment block in Berlin’s Tiergarten district said to be the suspect’s home.
