After a horrifying car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday, police captured a suspect, as shown in a dramatic video that has surfaced. After the incident, which left two people dead, including a toddler, and 68 others injured, authorities contacted the suspect who was lying on the ground close to a car.
The guy is shown being arrested on a footbridge amid a road in the video, which was confirmed by the German news agency DPA. The man is shown in the video lying on the ground while a police officer, standing a few meters away and brandishing a revolver, orders him to stay still. Additional police officers quickly move in to take the man into arrest as they arrive on the scene.
The arrest follows an attack that disrupted the city’s joyous atmosphere, transforming a site of celebration and joy into one of shock and sorrow.
The suspect was identified by the authorities as a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian physician who has been working in Bernburg, which is about 40 kilometers south of Magdeburg. According to reports, he relocated to Germany around 2006.
Reiner Haseloff, the governor of Saxony-Anhalt, acknowledged that the assailant was acting alone, saying,Â
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city.”
A BMW unexpectedly plowed through the crowd as families were enjoying the holiday ambiance gathered around the big Christmas tree in the center of Magdeburg’s festive market.Â
German media said that terrorist specialist Hans-Jakob Schindler said,Â
“In the first instance it’s a surprise that a vehicle of that size was able to drive onto a Christmas market in Germany.”
Every year, between 2,500 and 3,000 Christmas markets are held in Germany, attracting tourists from all across the country for a month-long festival that begins in late November and ends shortly after Christmas. Since an Islamist fanatic purposefully drove a truck into a crowded Berlin Christmas market in 2016, keeping these joyous events secure has been a top priority. Thirteen people were killed and numerous others were injured in the incident. Later, the Italian police shot and killed the offender.
