Magdeburg in grief, arrest warrant for the suspect

2024-12-22 08:58:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Five dead, 200 injured: After the fatal car crash through Magdeburg's Christmas market, a judge issued an arrest warrant for the arrested suspect.

After the fatal hit-and-run with a vehicle at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, an arrest warrant has been issued for the arrested suspect. The 50-year-old was remanded in custody on five counts of murder, multiple attempted murders and several counts of grievous bodily harm, police in Magdeburg said early Sunday morning. The suspect appeared before a judge on Saturday evening. He should now be in custody.

The victims are remembered - flowers and candles everywhere

Many people in Magdeburg, the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, remembered the victims and their relatives on Saturday evening. According to police estimates, more than 1,000 people attended the memorial in front of the cathedral alone - where a large screen was set up on which a mass from the cathedral was broadcast. In many places in the city, citizens laid flowers and lit candles for the victims. During the day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also came to Magdeburg, who spoke of a "terrible, crazy act" that hits you in the heart. Scholz appealed in Magdeburg on Saturday that those who use this to divide society should not be allowed to win.

Federal prosecutors are looking into the case

After the strike that left five people dead and 200 injured on Friday evening, the suspect, a psychiatrist from Bernburg, was arrested by the police. He was known as a critic of Islam and comes from Saudi Arabia. Investigators said there was a single perpetrator of the crime and, as far as is known, there is no evidence of a second person. According to police records, this man used the emergency lane that was kept free to drive his car through the Christmas market and drive around people at high speed. According to authorities, four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75 and a nine-year-old boy died.

It is not yet known exactly what motivated the suspected perpetrator to commit the crime. According to the prosecutor's office's data so far, the motive may have been dissatisfaction with the treatment of refugees from Saudi Arabia in Germany. This was stated by the senior public prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens in Magdeburg. Investigations are still being carried out by the police in Saxony-Anhalt. The federal prosecutor's office is still checking whether to take over the investigation, security authorities in Magdeburg said. The Federal Prosecutor's Office prosecutes crimes related to state security if they are categorized as of particular importance./ DW