Attaque à la gay pride de Berlin: le suspect islamiste tué par la police
A young German man of Lebanese origin was killed by police in Berlin on Sunday evening, according to authorities who consider him to be the perpetrator of the previous day's car-ramming and knife attack on the sidelines of the gay pride parade, which left one dead and about thirty injured.
"According to the information we have at this stage, (the suspect) ran towards our intervention forces armed with a knife." Members of the "SEK-Berlin" special unit then used their firearms, Berlin police told X.
Despite the intervention of firefighters, "the man died at the scene," according to police.
The operation took place in a community garden in the Spandau district of Berlin.
Earlier, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt had revised upwards the death toll to 29 injured, compared to 16 previously.
The deceased victim is a woman. While the previous day firefighters had reported 3 injured in critical condition, no one appears to be "in mortal danger" anymore, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced during a religious service at St. Mary's Church in Berlin.
The suspect, whose name was revealed by the minister, Abdul Ballout, was a 21-year-old "German citizen of Lebanese origin" with a criminal record marked by "radicalization and his membership in the Islamist milieu," added Mr. Dobrindt, before the announcement of the death of the alleged sympathizer of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
Late Sunday, the prosecutor's office outlined in a statement the suspect's legal history, who was convicted in May for attempting to join ISIS in Syria via Lebanon, where he was arrested, convicted and sent back to Germany.
The prosecutor's office explains that Abdul Ballout was sentenced to a term of imprisonment but not incarcerated because his six months of pre-trial detention in Germany and his three months of detention in Lebanon were taken into account, as well as the fact that he admitted to the facts.
The attack took place on Saturday around 10:00 PM (8:00 PM GMT) in the Tiergarten park, a few hundred meters from the Brandenburg Gate, the main gathering place in the evening for the pride march, called Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Germany.
The incident cut short a day of celebration for hundreds of thousands of people.
According to police, a white vehicle drove into pedestrians before crashing into a tree. Registered in Berlin, the Citroën minivan was seen at the scene Sunday morning. Heavily damaged after hitting the tree, it was towed away by investigators.
The suspect "then rushed at other passers-by, armed with a bladed weapon (...) — presumably a machete — and also seriously injured them," described Alexander Dobrindt.
On Sunday, the police were no longer mentioning, as they had the day before, the possibility of an attack involving several perpetrators.
The police had launched an appeal for witnesses, accompanied by a photo and a physical description of the suspect: slim, about 1.90 meters tall, with black hair and wearing a black hoodie and white pants.
"These acts have only one goal: to divide our society," Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacted on Sunday, before attending the religious service to pay tribute to the victims.
Invited by members of the LGBTQ community to a vigil in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday in the early afternoon, hundreds of people observed a minute of silence.
This attack has revived memories of a series of similar acts that have shaken Germany in recent years, fueling the debate on immigration, with several of the perpetrators being of foreign origin.
The deadliest attack in recent years was the December 2016 attack on a Christmas market in Berlin by a Tunisian man with jihadist motives. It left 13 people dead.
The period leading up to the 2025 parliamentary elections was also marked by a wave of attacks in public places, notably perpetrated by Islamist assailants.
These attacks paved the way for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has become the leading opposition force and is now ahead of Mr. Merz's right-wing party in voting intentions.
On Sunday, AfD MP Martin Hess said the gay pride attack "reveals once again the total failure of those in charge of security" and immigration.
Met in the Tiergarten where he came to pay tribute to the victims, Armin Dünhölter, 49, a drag queen performing. A young German of Lebanese origin was killed Sunday evening by police in Berlin, according to authorities who consider him to be the perpetrator of the previous day's car-ramming and knife attack on the sidelines of the gay pride parade, which left one dead and about thirty injured.
"According to the information we have at this stage, (the suspect) ran towards our intervention forces armed with a knife." Members of the "SEK-Berlin" special unit then used their firearms, Berlin police told X.
Despite the intervention of firefighters, "the man died at the scene," according to police.
The operation took place in a community garden in the Spandau district of Berlin.
Earlier, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt had revised upwards the death toll to 29 injured, compared to 16 previously.
The deceased victim is a woman. While the previous day firefighters had reported 3 injured in critical condition, no one appears to be "in mortal danger" anymore, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced during a religious service at St. Mary's Church in Berlin.
The suspect, whose name was revealed by the minister, Abdul Ballout, was a 21-year-old "German citizen of Lebanese origin" with a criminal record marked by "radicalization and his membership in the Islamist milieu," added Mr. Dobrindt, before the announcement of the death of the alleged sympathizer of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
Late Sunday, the prosecutor's office outlined in a statement the suspect's legal history, who was convicted in May for attempting to join ISIS in Syria via Lebanon, where he was arrested, convicted and sent back to Germany.
The prosecutor's office explains that Abdul Ballout was sentenced to a term of imprisonment but not incarcerated because his six months of pre-trial detention in Germany and his three months of detention in Lebanon were taken into account, as well as the fact that he admitted to the facts.
The attack took place on Saturday around 10:00 PM (8:00 PM GMT) in the Tiergarten park, a few hundred meters from the Brandenburg Gate, the main gathering place in the evening for the pride march, called Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Germany.
The incident cut short a day of celebration for hundreds of thousands of people.
According to police, a white vehicle drove into pedestrians before crashing into a tree. Registered in Berlin, the Citroën minivan was seen at the scene Sunday morning. Heavily damaged after hitting the tree, it was towed away by investigators.
The suspect "then rushed at other passers-by, armed with a bladed weapon (...) — presumably a machete — and also seriously injured them," described Alexander Dobrindt.
On Sunday, the police were no longer mentioning, as they had the day before, the possibility of an attack involving several perpetrators.
The police had launched an appeal for witnesses, accompanied by a photo and a physical description of the suspect: slim, about 1.90 meters tall, with black hair and wearing a black hoodie and white pants.
"These acts have only one goal: to divide our society," Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacted on Sunday, before attending the religious service to pay tribute to the victims.
Invited by members of the LGBTQ community to a vigil in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday in the early afternoon, hundreds of people observed a minute of silence.
This attack has revived memories of a series of similar acts that have shaken Germany in recent years, fueling the debate on immigration, with several of the perpetrators being of foreign origin.
The deadliest attack in recent years was the December 2016 attack on a Christmas market in Berlin by a Tunisian man with jihadist motives. It left 13 people dead.
The period leading up to the 2025 parliamentary elections was also marked by a wave of attacks in public places, notably perpetrated by Islamist assailants.
These attacks paved the way for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has become the leading opposition force and is now ahead of Mr. Merz's right-wing party in voting intentions.
On Sunday, AfD MP Martin Hess said the gay pride attack "reveals once again the total failure of those in charge of security" and immigration.
Met in the Tiergarten where he came to pay tribute to the victims, Armin Dünhölter, 49, a drag queen performing. A young German of Lebanese origin was killed Sunday evening by police in Berlin, according to authorities who consider him to be the perpetrator of the previous day's car-ramming and knife attack on the sidelines of the gay pride parade, which left one dead and about thirty injured.
"According to the information we have at this stage, (the suspect) ran towards our intervention forces armed with a knife." Members of the "SEK-Berlin" special unit then used their firearms, Berlin police told X.
Despite the intervention of firefighters, "the man died at the scene," according to police.
The operation took place in a community garden in the Spandau district of Berlin.
Earlier, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt had revised upwards the death toll to 29 injured, compared to 16 previously.
The deceased victim is a woman. While the previous day firefighters had reported 3 injured in critical condition, no one appears to be "in mortal danger" anymore, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced during a religious service at St. Mary's Church in Berlin.
The suspect, whose name was revealed by the minister, Abdul Ballout, was a 21-year-old "German citizen of Lebanese origin" with a criminal record marked by "radicalization and his membership in the Islamist milieu," added Mr. Dobrindt, before the announcement of the death of the alleged sympathizer of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
Late Sunday, the prosecutor's office outlined in a statement the suspect's legal history, who was convicted in May for attempting to join ISIS in Syria via Lebanon, where he was arrested, convicted and sent back to Germany.
The prosecutor's office explains that Abdul Ballout was sentenced to a term of imprisonment but not incarcerated because his six months of pre-trial detention in Germany and his three months of detention in Lebanon were taken into account, as well as the fact that he admitted to the facts.
The attack took place on Saturday around 10:00 PM (8:00 PM GMT) in the Tiergarten park, a few hundred meters from the Brandenburg Gate, the main gathering place in the evening for the pride march, called Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Germany.
The incident cut short a day of celebration for hundreds of thousands of people.
According to police, a white vehicle drove into pedestrians before crashing into a tree. Registered in Berlin, the Citroën minivan was seen at the scene Sunday morning. Heavily damaged after hitting the tree, it was towed away by investigators.
The suspect "then rushed at other passers-by, armed with a bladed weapon (...) — presumably a machete — and also seriously injured them," described Alexander Dobrindt.
On Sunday, the police were no longer mentioning, as they had the day before, the possibility of an attack involving several perpetrators.
The police had launched an appeal for witnesses, accompanied by a photo and a physical description of the suspect: slim, about 1.90 meters tall, with black hair and wearing a black hoodie and white pants.
"These acts have only one goal: to divide our society," Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacted on Sunday, before attending the religious service to pay tribute to the victims.
Invited by members of the LGBTQ community to a vigil in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday in the early afternoon, hundreds of people observed a minute of silence.
This attack has revived memories of a series of similar acts that have shaken Germany in recent years, fueling the debate on immigration, with several of the perpetrators being of foreign origin.
The deadliest attack in recent years was the December 2016 attack on a Christmas market in Berlin by a Tunisian man with jihadist motives. It left 13 people dead.
The period leading up to the 2025 parliamentary elections was also marked by a wave of attacks in public places, notably perpetrated by Islamist assailants.
These attacks paved the way for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has become the leading opposition force and is now ahead of Mr. Merz's right-wing party in voting intentions.
On Sunday, AfD MP Martin Hess said the gay pride attack "reveals once again the total failure of those in charge of security" and immigration.
Met in the Tiergarten where he came to pay tribute to the victims, Armin Dünhölter, 49, a drag queen who has been performing "for years" at German gay prides, said he was "in shock".
"With the incidents of recent years, we have obviously often thought that, sooner or later, one of our demonstrations could be targeted."
"for years" at German gay prides, says he is "in shock".
"With the incidents of recent years, we have obviously often thought that, sooner or later, one of our demonstrations could be targeted."
"for years" at German gay prides, says he is "in shock".
"With the incidents of recent years, we have obviously often thought that, sooner or later, one of our demonstrations could be targeted."
Commentaires (18)
Participer à la Discussion
Règles de la communauté
💡 Astuce : Utilisez des emojis depuis votre téléphone ou le module emoji ci-dessous. Cliquez sur GIF pour ajouter un GIF animé. Collez un lien X/Twitter, TikTok ou Instagram pour l'afficher automatiquement.
Se connecter
Commentez avec votre profil, votre photo, et soyez averti des réponses.