Abdul Ballout, the suspect accused of attacking a Pride Celebration in Berlin was shot dead. Ballout killed one and injured 29 with van and a knife.
German police shot a man named Abdul Ballout, the chief suspect in a vehicle-ramming and knife attack near Berlin’s Pride celebrations that killed one woman and injured 29 people.
The 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese heritage died during a police operation in the western district of Spandau on Sunday evening, ending a manhunt that had lasted almost 24 hours.
Berlin Police said officers found Ballout at an allotment-garden complex at about 6 p.m. According to their initial account, he ran towards police while carrying a bladed weapon, prompting officers to open fire.
Berlin Fire Department personnel immediately attempted to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene. Authorities have continued to describe Ballout as the suspected attacker while investigators reconstruct the events surrounding the assault and his death.
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Van Struck Pedestrians Near Christopher Street Day Event
The violence began at about 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, when a white minivan was allegedly driven into pedestrians in Berlin’s Tiergarten park, close to the Brandenburg Gate.
One woman was killed and 29 other people were injured. Investigators said some of the casualties suffered wounds from a bladed weapon after the vehicle stopped.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Ballout was suspected of attacking people with a machete. Police initially used the broader description of a bladed or stabbing weapon while establishing exactly what happened.
The attacker fled on foot, leaving the damaged vehicle behind and triggering an extensive search across the German capital. Police published Ballout’s photograph and warned members of the public not to approach him because he was considered armed and dangerous.
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Dobrindt said the available evidence indicated that the Berlin Pride attack was an act of Islamist terrorism.
Police described Ballout as a man already known to the authorities through numerous previous offences, radicalisation and his association with Berlin’s Islamist scene. Security sources also said he had been classified as potentially dangerous and was known to domestic intelligence.
