Germany Terror Attack Suspect Abdul Ballout Shot Dead by Police in Spandau
German police shot and killed 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, the suspect in a vehicle-ramming and stabbing attack near Berlin's Pride festival that killed one woman and injured 29 others, which authorities described as an Islamist terror attack in the Germany terror attack case. The ramming attack happened in the Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate at about 10 p.m. on Saturday, not far from one of Europe’s biggest annual LGBTQ celebrations, Christopher Street Day. [1] One person was killed and 29 were injured, authorities said. [1] A white van was driven into a crowd on a path in the park, hitting multiple people before crashing into a tree. [2]
Attack Near Berlin Pride Festival
The ramming attack happened near the Brandenburg Gate at about 10pm on Saturday. [2] Shortly before 10:00 pm on Saturday a white vehicle ran into people on the southern edge of central Berlin's Tiergarten park before crashing into a tree. [3] Police say that "one or more" people then left the vehicle and fled the scene. [3] They say several people also suffered stab wounds. [3] Emergency services said one woman was killed and 16 others were injured, including three with life-threatening injuries. [3] The attack took place several hundred metres away from the end of the CSD parade route and the event's main stage at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate. [3] The vehicle used in the attack, a Citroen minivan with a Berlin number plate, could be seen on Sunday morning still at the scene, heavily damaged by the impact with the tree. [3] Lines of police officers were combing the ground near the car in the search for clues and taking samples of material from the ground. [3] Shortly after the attack the festivities were cut short, with revellers requested to leave the area. [3] The attack did not occur at the festival, along its route or at the closing party. [2] Rather, the violence took place a few hundred metres away on a track in the Tiergarten park. [2] The van drove into a crowd that was likely a mix of festivalgoers and other locals or visitors. [2] Police said a woman was killed. [2] Berlin police had identified the suspect as Abdul B, 21, and published his picture, asking the public for information on his whereabouts. [1]
Suspect's Background and Radicalisation
Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese heritage born in Germany in 2005, had attracted attention in the past through a high number of criminal offences, through radicalisation, through membership of the Islamist scene. [1] His mother was naturalised in 2002, three years before he was born. [2] Prosecutors said Ballout had previous convictions for bodily harm and extortion committed in 2019, and one for robbery in 2020. [2] In 2024 he shared IS propaganda on Instagram and the following year travelled to Lebanon in order to fight for the militia in Syria. [2] He was arrested in Lebanon and sentenced to three months' prison for offences including incitement to religious and sectarian conflict. [2] He returned to Germany after completing his sentence, where he was arrested at the Berlin airport. [2] In May, a juvenile court in Berlin convicted Ballout of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, as well as publishing the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group's propaganda on his Instagram account and other charges, prosecutors said. [2] The court handed down a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months in youth custody, which Berlin prosecutors had appealed. [2] The court said it took Ballout’s months of pre-trial detention in Germany and Lebanon into account. [2] It also said it considered that Ballout had confessed to the crimes, appeared to distance himself from the militant group, and no actual threat had ever materialised. [2] He was released from detention pending the appeal. [2] German newspapers Bild and Spiegel reported Abdul B. was an IS supporter. [3] He was convicted in Germany of "preparing a serious act of subversive violence", they said. [3] Last year, he travelled to the Middle East in a failed attempt to join IS. [3] Police described him as thin, around 1.90 metres tall with black hair and dressed in a black hoodie and white trousers. [3] A police spokesman earlier told reporters that Abdul B. was believed to have links to "Islamist circles". [3]
German police fatally shoot terror suspect Abdul Ballout in Spandau after Berlin Pride vehicle and stabbing attack. — Source: sbsaustralia
Manhunt and Police Shooting
Around 6 p.m., the suspect involved in yesterday’s attack in Tiergarten was located at an allotment garden complex in Spandau. [1] According to initial findings, he ran towards officers while armed with a bladed weapon; police subsequently opened fire. [1] Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene. [1] A federal prosecutors spokesperson confirmed one person had been shot and declared dead. [1] Ballout was tracked down around 2am AEST on Monday at a garden in Spandau, a Berlin suburb, the city's police department wrote on X. [2] They said he apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument, and police fired at least one shot. [2] He died at the scene. [2] Officers opened fire when Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese heritage, rushed at them with a knife in Spandau, a western borough of Berlin. [5] It brought an end to a massive manhunt that was launched after a white van was driven into a crowd of people near Tiergarten park just before 22:00 on Saturday evening, killing one woman and injuring at least 29 others. [5] Police say following the ramming, several people were injured in a stabbing attack. [5] Police at an allotment in the Spandau borough in Berlin's west on Sunday. [5]
Official Response and Threat Level
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the attack occurred a few hundred metres from a party near the Brandenburg Gate that was supposed to close out the city's Pride festival. [2] "Everything we see here indicates that this was an Islamist terror attack," he said. [2] Speaking to reporters on Sunday, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said evidence pointed to it being an "Islamist terror attack". [5] "We are dealing with a suspected perpetrator, who had previously drawn attention to himself through a high volume of criminal offences, radicalisation and affiliation with the Islamist scene," Dobrindt said. [5] Dobrindt said Germany's threat level would be raised following the attack, while other states were also being briefed about the attack and advised to review their security measures for major events. [5] German politicians were swift to react to the attack, with Berlin's Mayor Kai Wegner condemning a "brutal attack" on "a gathering for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin". [3] President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was "shaken and outraged" by the attack, while the speaker of parliament Julia Kloeckner ordered the flag at the German Bundestag to be lowered to half mast. [3] There were also expressions of solidarity from abroad, with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen expressing "her deepest sympathies" to the victims of the attack. [3] The governments of the Netherlands, France, Italy, Sweden and the UK also expressed their shock and condemnation. [3]
Chancellor Merz's Call for Unity
Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged people not to be intimidated or divided by the fatal attack. [2] Ahead of a memorial service at St Mary’s Church in Berlin, centre-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Germans to protect liberal values. [1] “We will defend the freedom, openness, and liberal spirit of our lives and our society with everything we can do,” he said. [1] Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the nation to remain united in the aftermath of the attack. [2] “I would like to say this to Christopher Street Day participants here in Berlin but also across Germany: Don’t let yourselves, let us not let ourselves, be intimidated," he said. [2] "These acts have only one purpose: They aim to divide our society. They want to take away from us the most important thing we have: Namely our openness and our freedom.” [2] On Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the scene of the attack in Tiergarten park. [5] He later spoke outside a church service that paid tribute to victims, where he pledged to "defend the freedom and openness of our lives". [5] "These extremists have no place in our society," he said, adding that Germany would not allow the "poison of terrorism" to affect its society. [5]
Community Vigil and Reactions
On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of mourners gathered at a memorial at the iconic gate. [2] They hugged each other and laid down flowers, candles, rainbow flags and homemade signs, including a cardboard one that said: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love". [2] Hundreds of thousands had come to Berlin to celebrate on Saturday, though it’s unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening. [2] It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations. [2] Luka, a 23-year-old student, told Agence France-Presse she hoped the attack wouldn't be exploited by the surging anti-immigration far-right ahead of elections in the capital and in several regions in September. [2] At the scene of the attack itself, people left flowers and handwritten messages of condolence and support. [2] In a vigil on Sunday, hundreds of people packed the square in front of the Brandenburg Gate, holding rainbow flags and flowers, with more gathering nearby. [2] Armin Duenhoelter, 49, from Wolfsburg, who works as a drag artist, was backstage at the main stage when the attack cut short the celebrations. [2] He told AFP early Sunday that he was still shocked but vowed to be back for next year's CSD. [2] "We won't let it beat us down," he said. [2] Members of Berlin's queer community said on social media that a vigil would be organised at 2:00 pm local time on Sunday in front of the Brandenburg Gate for people to grieve the victims of the attack. [3] Armin Duenhoelter, 49 from Wolfsburg, who works as a drag artist, was backstage at the main stage when the celebrations were cut short. [3] He told AFP on Sunday morning he was still "shocked" by Saturday's events even though "the events in recent years did make us think that one of our events could eventually become a target". [3] He vowed to be back for next year's CSD "even though in the back of your mind or in your gut you might feel uneasy". [3] "But we won't let it beat us down". [3] Later in the day, some members of the LGBT community returned to the iconic Brandenburg Gate for an impromptu vigil. [5] Speakers condemned extremism in all its manifestations, but they also criticised the government for a lack of support, singling out recent budget cuts for queer organisations. [5] Armin Duenhoelter from Wolfsburg, who works as a drag artist, was backstage at the main stage when the attack happened. [5] He told Agency France-Presse that he was still shocked but vowed to be back for next year's pride celebration. [5] "We won't let it beat us down," he said. [5]
What to watch next: German media say those injured in the attack are no longer in a life-threatening condition, while Berlin police have said people were hit on Ahornsteig street, which is a long path stretching across the Tiergarten park, largely in a forested area. [5]
