Berlin police hunt suspect in attack on pride parade that left 1 dead

A man drove a van into a crowd at Berlin’s Christopher Street Day parade late Saturday, killing at least one person and injuring others. Berlin police told POLITICO Sunday morning that one person was killed and 25 others were injured in the attack, some of them severely. Police also said the suspect, identified as 21-year-old Abdul B., was “known to the police” before and is considered “to be part of Berlin’s Islamist scene.” The suspect remained at large Sunday morning. An arrest warrant has been issued. A second person may have been involved, with police saying “one or more individuals are believed to have fled the vehicle.” Several people are believed to have been injured with knives, according to the police. Police told POLITICO Sunday morning that officers are searching train stations as part of the manhunt, including the Anhalter Bahnhof near the scene of the attack. Authorities have a “strong suspicion” the episode was an act of terrorism, the New York Times quoted Berlin police spokesperson Florian Nath as saying. The Christopher Street Day parade took place on the Straße des 17 Juni, or Street of June 17, in the Tiergarten park and Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate. A photo published by German tabloid Bild (like POLITICO part of the Axel Springer group) showed a white van with a smashed hood. According to regional media, the man drove the van into a crowd on one of paths in the Tiergarten park. Both Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the attack. Wegner wrote on X: “It is an attack on our free and open society — after a peaceful and colorful CSD, the assembly for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal way.” Merz called the incident “a heinous act” and “an attack on our society,” in a post on X. “The act will be investigated and pursued with the utmost severity,” Merz said. On Saturday evening, Merz and many other senior German politicians attended the opening of the Bayreuth Wagner Festival in Bavaria. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X: “Hate and violence have no place in our societies. We stand united at the side of the LGBTQI+ community.” Berlin has been the site of Germany’s deadliest Islamist terrorist attack. In December 2016, Islamist terrorist Anis Amri drove a truck into a Christmas market, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more. This article has been updated.