Investigators will question a driver who allegedly rammed a car into a
crowd in Germany, killing 2
[March 04, 2025]
By STEFANIE DAZIO and MICHAEL PROBST
MANNHEIM, Germany (AP) — Investigators on Tuesday will question a driver
who allegedly rammed a car into a crowd in the southwestern German city
of Mannheim, killing two people and injuring 11.
Andreas Stenger, head of the State Criminal Police Office, told German
news agency dpa that police hope the interview with the perpetrator will
lead to information about a motive for Monday's attack. Mourners left
flowers in the city's center to honor the victims.
The suspect is a 40-year-old German man from the nearby state of
Rhineland-Palatinate who was detained and is in a hospital after being
injured, State Interior Minister Thomas Strobl of Baden-Württemberg,
which includes Mannheim, told dpa on Monday.
Strobl later told reporters in Mannheim that "as far as the specific
motivation of the crime is concerned, we have no indication of an
extremist or religious background at the moment. The motivation could
rather be based in the person of the perpetrator himself.”
German police and prosecutors said Monday at a joint news conference
that the driver intentionally rammed his car into people and is being
investigated for murder and attempted murder. Five of the 11 injured
were seriously wounded.
Police and prosecutors said the driver shot himself in the mouth when he
was arrested and had to undergo medical treatment at a hospital.
While the driver did not seem to be ideologically motivated, prosecutors
said that the man, whose identity was not revealed in line with German
privacy rules, has several previous convictions.
He served a short prison sentence for assault more than 10 years ago,
and was convicted for drunken driving. He had also been investigated for
a hate speech offense on Facebook in 2018, for which he was fined,
prosecutors said without giving further details.
Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the driver may
suffer from psychological problems.
Cars have been used as deadly weapons in several acts of violence in
recent months in Germany.
Police said earlier that “indications of a second perpetrator cannot be
confirmed at this stage of the investigation.” They said there was no
more danger to the public.
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Flowers are laid in the city center of Mannheim, Germany, Tuesday,
March 4, 2025, a day after a driver rammed a car into a crowd. (AP
Photo/Michael Probst)
Police spokesperson Stefan Wilhelm said a vehicle drove into people
on Paradeplatz, a pedestrian street downtown, around noon, when
workers come out for lunchbreaks. Local media reported a carnival
market was taking place, meaning more visitors than usual in
Mannheim, which has a population of 326,000.
Mannheim University Hospital said they were treating three people,
two adults and a child, dpa reported. The other wounded people were
taken to different hospitals in the region.
Images from the scene showed parts of the downtown area cordoned
off, with a heavy police presence. Officers gathered round a badly
damaged black car.
Friedrich Merz, who likely will become Germany's next chancellor,
wrote on X that “the incident — as well as the terrible acts of the
past few months — is an urgent reminder that we must do everything
we can to prevent such acts.” Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote
on X that “we mourn with the families of the victims of a senseless
act of violence."
Last month, a 2-year-old girl and her mother died two days after
they were injured in a car-ramming attack on a union demonstration
in Munich. A 24-year-old Afghan man who came to Germany as an
asylum-seeker was arrested, and prosecutors said he appeared to have
an Islamic extremist motive.
Last year, six people were killed and more than 200 injured when a
car slammed into a Christmas market in the eastern city of
Magdeburg. The suspect, who was arrested, is a 50-year-old doctor
originally from Saudi Arabia who had expressed anti-Muslim views and
support for the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative For Germany
party.
___
Dazio reported from Berlin. Associated Press writers Geir Moulson
and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.
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