Germans on Saturday mourned the death of at least five people β including a 9-year-old β who were killed, and at least others who were injured after a Saudi doctor intentionally drove into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday. The driver of the car β a year-old man who arrived in Germany in β was arrested and taken into custody for questioning, authorities said.
Magdeburg police said their current assumption is that the man, who had indefinite permission to stay and work in the country, was a "lone perpetrator. Prosecutor Horst Nopens said the suspect is under investigation on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm.
He is currently being questioned. The prosecutor says they're still working to clarify the motive but said it's linked to "dissatisfaction with the treatment of refugees from Saudi Arabia and how they've been treated in Germany," CBS News partner BBC reported. Authorities said the driver had no criminal record, and the possible motive is unknown.
The area surrounding the vehicle was sealed off by investigators. The state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, described it as "a lone attack. It is "astonishing, unimaginable, that something like this could happen in Germany," Haseloff said. Neurosurgeon Mahmoud Elenbaby said some 80 patients were brought to Magdeburg's university hospital on Friday night. German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A.
They reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy who practiced medicine in Bernburg, about 25 miles south of Magdeburg. Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticizing the religion and congratulating Muslims who left the faith.
