German police confirm attacker is dead after vans plow into crowds in Berlin.
Abdul Ballout, an extremist of Lebanese origin, was shot dead by police officers: he had allegedly attempted to attack them shortly before with a cutting weaponConfirmation came late this afternoon from German police: Abdul Ballout, an extremist of Lebanese origin and the main suspect in the attack on the Berlin Pride parade , has been killed.
Berlin's Interior Senator, Iris Spranger (SPD), thanked the police: "I am grateful to the security authorities for identifying the attacker so quickly . This is an extraordinary achievement," she told German media. Helicopters circled the scene of the attack, a garden shed in Berlin's Spandau district, for a long time.
According to police, Ballout allegedly attacked police officers with a knife before being hunted down and killed . "Around 6 p.m., the suspect involved in yesterday's attack in Tiergarten was located at an urban allotment complex in Spandau," police said. The man then ran toward officers armed with a knife, prompting the Berlin police special unit to use firearms. "Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin fire brigade, the man died at the scene," they added.
Abdul Ballout , 21, is believed to be the man driving the van that ploughed into the crowd gathered for Pride during the night, causing one death and 29 injuries near the Brandenburg Gate.
Already convicted of acts of violence against the state, Ballout attempted to join ISIS in Syria in 2025 but was arrested in Lebanon. Of Lebanese origin, a German citizen since 2002, he was repatriated and required to undergo deradicalization.
Meanwhile, investigations continue to determine the motive and reconstruct the dynamics of the attack . They are also trying to determine whether Ballout had any accomplices who may have helped him.
WHAT HAPPENED – Celebrations for a more open society were interrupted on the night between Saturday and Sunday, around 10 pm , when a white Citroen van ploughed into a crowd in the popular Tiergarten , killing at least one person, a woman, injuring 29 – whose lives are no longer in danger – and crashing into a tree.
The attack occurred several hundred meters from the end of the CSD parade route—one of the most attended rainbow demonstrations in Europe—and the event's main stage near the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of the capital.
Images of people embracing have gone viral around the world , and Germany has fallen back into a nightmare it has long been experiencing.
On Saturday evening, the joy of a celebrating city turned into cries of pain, bouquets of flowers left with a note reading "We must remain united," prayers from the faithful in St. Mary's Church , and candles lit in front of the Brandenburg Gate during a commemoration colored only by rainbow flags draped over people's shoulders.
(Unioneonline)