Suspect in Berlin attack near Pride gathering shot dead by police

Berlin Police Shoot Dead Suspect in Pride-Area Van Attack; Second Person Released

German authorities said Sunday that the man suspected of driving a minivan into a crowd near a major LGBTQ Pride gathering in Berlin, killing one person and injuring dozens, was shot dead by police in the city's Spandau district.

Berlin police said on social media that the suspect, identified as Abdul B, a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese heritage born in Germany in 2005, was located at an allotment garden complex in Spandau. Officers said he ran toward them while armed with a bladed weapon, and police subsequently opened fire. Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene, according to a federal prosecutor's spokesperson.

The ramming attack occurred in the Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate at about 10pm local time on Saturday, not far from Christopher Street Day, one of Europe's biggest annual LGBTQ celebrations. One person was killed and 29 were injured, according to authorities.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the suspect had attracted attention in the past through a high number of criminal offenses, radicalization, and membership in the Islamist scene. He described the attack as an "Islamist terrorist attack," a characterization echoed by Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, who said the incident was "probably an Islamist terrorist attack on our way of living alongside one another, on our liberal democracy, our openness and our freedom."

The suspect had been released from juvenile detention two months ago, according to authorities.

A second suspect was detained in connection with the attack but was released on Monday, according to the German federal prosecutors' office. Spiegel reported that authorities released the person because initial suspicion that he was a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the attack could not be upheld. The prosecutors' office declined to comment further.

The attack has intensified debate around security and immigration in Germany, where far-right support has surged in recent years. Ahead of a memorial service at St Mary's Church in Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Germans to protect liberal values, saying, "We will defend the freedom, openness, and liberal spirit of our lives and our society with everything we can do."

The investigation into the attack is ongoing.