German police on Sunday shot and killed the prime suspect behind a van ramming at a Berlin LGBT Pride party on Saturday that killed one and injured 29.
Berlin police identified the 21-year-old suspect as Abdul Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, who they said is active in Islamist circles. He was killed during a confrontation in a suburb of Berlin nearly 24 hours after the vehicle attack.
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“The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,” police spokesman Florian Nath said before Ballout’s death.
Despite the man’s ties with Islamist circles, police said they weren’t sure of a motive.
The alleged attack occurred around 10 p.m. Saturday local time, when a white van drove into a crowd at Berlin’s Tiergarten park, next to the iconic Brandenburg Gate. After ramming over a dozen people, the attack was stopped when the vehicle collided with a tree.
Along with a woman who was killed, three people were said to be in critical condition, eight were seriously injured, and five had slight injuries, according to Berlin’s fire service. The driver left the vehicle and fled after hitting the tree.
As part of the manhunt, police raided an apartment in the capital, though no one was there.
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“What a heinous act in Berlin. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world were peacefully celebrating at Christopher Street Day. They wanted us to treat each other with kindness and tolerance. This is an attack on our society,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a post on X after the attack.
“We are open and freedom-loving—and we will preserve and defend that. The act will be investigated and pursued with the utmost severity,” he added.
