Two Killed in Germany's Mannheim Car Ramming Attack
Rabat – A car drove into a crowd in the western German city of Mannheim, leaving two people dead and 11 others injured.
Police said they are not linking the motive to be as a result of any 'political background,' but did say the arrested 40-year German suspect is suffering from serious mental health issues.
Authorities have revealed that the suspect is a landscape gardener who lives alone, and that they are searching his house for clues.
He killed two people – 83-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man.
Mannheim's mayor Christian Specht described the incident in a statement posted on the city government's website as 'abhorrent and inhumane.'
'Our thoughts are with the dead and injured, their families and friends,' Mayor says.
Germany's State Interior Minister Thomas Strobl said that the incident is similar to recent past incidents in the country in which a car has been misused as a weapon.
Echoing the statements from the police, he further explained that the incident has nothing to do with the suspect having any 'extremist or religious background.'
As authorities continue their investigations, he added that 'the motivation may rather be rooted in the perpetrator's own personal circumstances.'
After the suspect rammed into the crowd he shot himself with a blank-firing gun in the mouth but survived. He is undergoing medical treatment, which is why prosecutors have not been able to question him yet.
For her part, Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser describes the incident as a 'terrible act…a horror in broad daylight.'
She further described the seemingly calm scene before the attack: 'In the most beautiful weather during the lunch break, when many people are outside, in the middle of a pedestrian zone.'
The incident overshadowed carnival celebrations in the region where police had been on alert for attacks. Authorities have canceled carnival events planned for today in the nearby suburbs of Feudenheim, Neckarau, and Sandhofen.
Germany's next likely leader, Friedrich Merz, whose conservatives won a national election last month, expressed concerns over the rising number of incidents in the country.
'The incident — like the terrible acts of the past months — serves as a stark reminder: we must do everything possible to prevent such acts.'
Security has been a vital concern in Germany following a string of violent attacks in recent weeks, including deadly car rammings in Magdeburg in December and in Munich last month, as well as a stabbing in Mannheim in May 2024. Tags: Car RammingCar Ramming MannheimGermany
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