Suspect in Berlin Pride attack shot and killed by police
One woman was killed and 29 others injured after a vehicle drove into people close to Pride celebrations near the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday evening.
The suspect in the Berlin Pride attack has been shot and killed during a police operation in the city, police confirm.
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One woman was killed and 29 others injured after a van ploughed into a crowd close to Pride celebrations near the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday evening.
Police named Abdul Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, as the suspect and warned he could be armed and dangerous.
Following an intensive manhunt, the 21-year-old was found at an allotment garden complex in the Berlin suburb of Spandau on Sunday, according to German police.
He was shot dead less than 14km from the site of the attack at around 6pm on Sunday. He rushed towards emergency forces with "a stabbing weapon" before being killed, police said.
Read more: Berlin Pride attack suspect ‘convicted terrorist’ who tried to join Islamic State
On Sunday, Germany’s interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said the evidence pointed to an Islamist terrorist attack, adding that investigators were focused on establishing whether others were involved.
Many details about the attack remain unclear, but police say the vehicle struck multiple people after charging into the city's central Tiergarten park close to the Brandenburg Gate.
After driving into the crowds, at least one person is believed to have launched a knife attack with "some type of blade" - possibly a machete.
Ballout was reportedly already well known to German authorities.
He was previously arrested in Lebanon for trying to join Islamic State in Syria and planning a terror attack, but the roots of his radicalisation are unclear.
After his arrest, he was returned to Germany, where the Die Welt newspaper says he was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for plotting a serious act of violence that threatened the state.
The prosecution called for a sentence of two years and 10 months, according to the report.
Ballout was held in custody at the Plötzensee juvenile detention centre and subsequently released at the end of his sentence in May.
He was ordered to attend a de-radicalisation programme after posting material supporting Islamic State online.
He attended two classes and was expected to attend a third on Monday. Ballout was reportedly in the “clearing process” where the danger he posed to the public was being assessed.