German police to question man who allegedly rammed car into crowd, killing two

Investigators on Tuesday will question a driver who allegedly rammed a car into a crowd in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, killing two people and injuring 11.

Andreas Stenger, head of the State Criminal Police Office, told German news agency dpa that police hope the interview will lead to information about a motive for Monday’s attack.

Mourners left flowers in the city’s centre to honour the victims.

Mr Strobl later told reporters in Mannheim that “as far as the specific motivation of the crime is concerned, we have no indication of an extremist or religious background at the moment. The motivation could rather be based in the person of the perpetrator himself.”

German police and prosecutors said on Monday at a joint news conference that the driver intentionally rammed his car into people and is being investigated for murder and attempted murder. Five of the 11 injured were seriously wounded.

Police and prosecutors said the driver shot himself in the mouth when he was arrested and had to undergo medical treatment in hospital.

While the driver did not seem to be ideologically motivated, prosecutors said that the man, whose identity was not revealed in line with German privacy rules, has several previous convictions.

Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the driver may suffer from psychological problems.

Cars have been used as deadly weapons in several acts of violence in recent months in Germany.

Police said earlier that “indications of a second perpetrator cannot be confirmed at this stage of the investigation”. They said there was no more danger to the public.

Police spokesman Stefan Wilhelm said a vehicle drove into people on Paradeplatz, a pedestrian street, around noon, when workers come out for lunchbreaks. Local media reported a carnival market was taking place, meaning more visitors than usual in Mannheim, which has a population of 326,000.

Images from the scene showed parts of the area cordoned off, with a heavy police presence. Officers gathered round a badly damaged black car.

Friedrich Merz, who will likely become Germany’s next chancellor, wrote on X that “the incident — as well as the terrible acts of the past few months — is an urgent reminder that we must do everything we can to prevent such acts”.

Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X that “we mourn with the families of the victims of a senseless act of violence.”

Last month, a two-year-old girl and her mother died two days after they were injured in a car-ramming attack on a union demonstration in Munich. A 24-year-old Afghan man who came to Germany as an asylum-seeker was arrested, and prosecutors said he appeared to have an Islamic extremist motive.

Last year, six people were killed and more than 200 injured when a car slammed into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg. The suspect, who was arrested, is a 50-year-old doctor originally from Saudi Arabia who had expressed anti-Muslim views and support for the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative For Germany party.