German authorities on Sunday issued a wanted notice for a fugitive suspect in the van ramming near Berlin’s Pride festival that left one person dead and injured at least 16 others.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz described what happened late Saturday evening as “an attack on our society.”
Police and prosecutors asked for help in finding the 21-year-old suspect, whom they identified as Abdul B. They said he is believed to have injured several people with a moving vehicle, and that one or more people apparently then left that vehicle. Several people were also apparently stabbed, they added.
Sunday’s notice warned the public to avoid “direct contact” with the suspect, saying that he may be armed and dangerous.
Police had said earlier that they had identified a suspect who has ties to Islamic groups in the German capital.
“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,” police spokesperson Florian Nath said.
Nath added that investigators had no information on “his specific motives.”
According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. and hit several people before colliding with a tree. The closing party at the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was ongoing nearby at the time, following a parade with some 80 trucks that had made its way through downtown 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 Pride event next to the Brandenburg Gate was called off around 10:15 p.m. and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted. People were urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the park.
“What an abhorrent act in Berlin,” Merz wrote in a post on X. He added that Germany loves freedom, “and we will preserve and defend that.”
Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin to celebrate on Saturday, though it’s unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening. It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.
Julian Miethig, who had attended the party at the Brandenburg Gate, said he wanted to go to an afterparty 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.
The van, with its battered front resting against a tree, could still be seen at the scene Sunday morning.
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Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber and Fanny Brodersen in Berlin contributed to this report.
