German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed Sunday that a deadly vehicle-ramming and knife attack near Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day Pride celebrations is being investigated as an Islamist terrorist attack.
The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese descent with known ties to extremist circles, plowed a minivan into a crowd near Tiergarten park on Saturday evening before attacking bystanders with a bladed weapon.
The assault killed one woman and injured 29 others before the annual LGBTQ+ festival was abruptly canceled and a citywide manhunt was launched.
Police shot and killed Ballout in Berlin’s Spandau district on Sunday afternoon after he charged at officers with a knife during an attempted arrest.
German authorities subsequently revealed that Ballout had previously been convicted of preparing a serious act of subversive violence, drawing intense scrutiny over why he had received a suspended sentence rather than prison time prior to the attack.
