The German Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, reported this Sunday that the balance of the multiple hit-and-run recorded last night in Berlin during the Pride celebrations amounts to one deceased person and 29 injured, and specified that the authorities have opened proceedings considering it a case of "terrorist attack" of jihadist nature.
Dobrindt explained that the main suspect, 21 years old, was released last May after serving a one-year sentence in a juvenile center. Although the minister did not specify the crime for which he was convicted, various German media indicate that it would be related to terrorism activities.
According to the Interior Minister, locating the alleged perpetrator of the attack is currently the absolute priority of the security forces. The extensive police deployment has extended to train stations, airports, and border crossings, he detailed in a statement to the media.
The investigated individual was born in Germany in 2005, holds German nationality, and comes from a family of Lebanese origin. According to sources from the investigation cited by local press, Abdul B. had been on the radar of security services since he was 16 years old. After his conviction, he was ordered to integrate into a deradicalization program and was subjected to partial surveillance, according to several German media reports.
The same sources indicate that the suspect, who is 1.90 meters tall, would have attempted to travel to Syria with the aim of joining the terrorist group Islamic State.
According to the provisional reconstruction of the events, Abdul B. would have used a vehicle to run over a crowd in Tiergarten Park in Berlin shortly before 10:00 PM on Saturday, during the ongoing Pride events, causing the death of a woman and leaving 29 injured. Subsequently, the alleged attacker would have stabbed several people with a machete before fleeing on foot after crashing the car into a tree.