LONDON — A man suspected of driving a car into a crowd of people during LGBTQ+ celebrations in Berlin on Saturday, killing one person and injuring several others, police said.
“At approximately 6 p.m., the suspect in yesterday’s attack in Tiergarten was present in a garden complex in Spandau,” police said. statement From the Berlin police.
The statement continued: “According to current information, he reportedly ran towards our officers carrying a stabbing weapon, prompting the SEK Berlin unit to open fire.” “Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene,” he added.
Berlin police earlier on Sunday published a photo of the man, whom they identified as Abdul B, using only the first letter of his surname, as is customary under German privacy law.
The 21-year-old suspect identified by authorities as Abdul B. In this undated photo released by Berlin police on July 26, 2026.
Berlin police
Reportedly, “Abdul B. allegedly injured several people with a moving vehicle in the Tiergarten area at approximately 10 p.m.” Joint statement Issued by the Berlin police and the prosecutor’s office.
“Everything we see here indicates that this was an Islamic terrorist attack,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said at a press conference on Sunday.
Dobrynt also updated the number of injured from 17 to 29, “including many who were seriously injured.”
The suspect rammed a vehicle into the crowd, and then “attacked other pedestrians with a bladed weapon believed to be a machete, seriously injuring them,” Dobrindt said.
Dobrynt confirmed Previous police reports The suspect, whom he described as “a German citizen of Lebanese origin who was born in Germany,” had “an extensive criminal record, showed signs of extremism, and was linked to the extremist Islamic scene.”
“He was previously sentenced in Berlin to one year and ten months in prison. The sentence was commuted to supervised release, and prosecutors appealed the decision,” Dobrindt said. He did not provide details about why the suspect was sentenced to prison.
“The search for the suspect is currently the top priority,” Dobrynt said.
Details about possible motives for the attack were not immediately revealed.
Hundreds of thousands of people came to Berlin to celebrate Christopher Street Day, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in Europe, according to the city.
the It happened for two days Saturday was scheduled to include a parade, which was to begin in Mitte, in central Berlin, head south to Schöneberg, and then return north toward the Brandenburg Gate.
The car crashed into the crowd in Tiergarten Park, according to law enforcement, an area along a pedestrian walkway inside the park and near the end of the parade.
“One or more people are believed to have then fled the vehicle,” police initially said. “Furthermore, there were reports that several people were injured with stabbing weapons.”
Berlin police told ABC News that many of those injured suffered life-threatening injuries.
Police described the suspect as having a “skinny build.” They said he was about 1.9 meters tall, or about 6 feet 3 inches, and had black hair. Police said he was wearing a black jacket and white pants.
“If you encounter this person, under no circumstances should you approach him or have any direct contact with him,” police said. “They may be armed and dangerous! Call the police emergency number 110 immediately.”
On Saturday, police canceled the rest of the night’s celebrations after the incident in the park.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday described the car accident as a “heinous act,” adding that “people from all over the world were celebrating peacefully” during Christopher Street Day.
“They wanted us to treat each other with kindness and tolerance,” he added. He said On social media. “This is an attack on our community.”
Rachid Haddou, ABC News correspondent Felix Franz, Jamie Dorrington and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
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