Berlin Pride attack suspect shot dead by police
The vehicle used to ram into a crowd at the Pride march is removed (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP)
A man suspected of carrying out the Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured has been shot dead by police during a confrontation in a suburb of the city.
Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a manhunt that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in central Berlin.
Prosecutors said the suspect had previously sought to join the so-called Islamic State group.
Authorities had issued a wanted notice and warned people against approaching Ballout, saying that he may be armed and dangerous.
Authorities said he is believed to have injured people with a van in a park near the pride festival’s closing party.
Several people were also apparently stabbed.
Interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said the suspect is believed to have injured people with a machete.
“Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack,” Mr Dobrindt said.
“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,” said police spokesperson Florian Nath, adding that investigators had no information on “his specific motives”.
Julian Miethig, who had attended the pride festival nearby, said he wanted to go to an after-party when he heard from a friend that “something bad happened there and there are a lot of fire trucks, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances”.
“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.
According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park at about 10pm and hit several people before colliding with a tree.
The closing party at the festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was continuing at the time next to the Brandenburg Gate, a short distance away, after a parade with some 80 floats which had made its way through Berlin earlier in the day.
Police said a woman was killed.
Berlin’s fire service said that three people sustained life-threatening injuries, another eight were seriously injured and five had slight injuries.
The event next to the Brandenburg Gate was called off at about 10.15pm and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted. People were urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the park.
One of the presenters at the party, Ricarda Hofmann, wrote in an Instagram post that she had been there “not just as a moderator, but as part of a community that comes together to be visible. To celebrate love. To stand up for each other”.
She said the attack left her speechless. “What happened today has changed something in me,” she wrote.
Hundreds of thousands of people had gone to Berlin to celebrate on Saturday, though it is unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening. It is one of Europe’s largest LGBT celebrations.
The van, with its battered front resting against a tree, could still be seen at the scene on Sunday.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz described what happened as “an attack on our society”.
“What an abhorrent act in Berlin,” Mr Merz wrote in a post on X. He added that Germany loves freedom, “and we will preserve and defend that”.
In the neighbouring Netherlands, Amsterdam is hosting World Pride this week and next alongside its own annual celebrations.
Mayor Femke Halsema said authorities and organisers “are closely monitoring the security situation” after the Berlin attack.
She said security was always high for such events and extra measures will be added where necessary, “which visitors will hopefully notice as little as possible. Because we don’t want to be scared and we want to be able to celebrate freedom and being able to be who you are and love who you want to”.
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