After the rampage in Berlin, an injured person is still in mortal danger. The suspect Gor H. is said to have been housed in a psychiatric ward before.
A car drove into a crowd in Berlin on Wednesday. The incident happened according to the police around 10.30 a.m. near Breitscheidplatz, near the Memorial Church and the Ku’damm. A teacher from Hesse died, the suspect Gor H. is in a psychiatric ward and remains silent about the motive. According to media reports, he was said to have been in a psychiatric ward in 2020 because he endangered himself and others.
Car crashes into a crowd in Berlin: a dead man, a teacher in mortal danger
The teacher who was killed was on a class trip with the students of a 10th class from Bad Arolsen in northern Hesse, according to the Hessian state government. Several students were seriously injured. A teacher is still in mortal danger.
The public prosecutor assumes that the crime was intentional. The suspect drove “deliberately with a vehicle” into a first group of people on the corner of Ku’damm and Rankestrasse and then into a group of students and teachers on Tauentzienstrasse, according to the spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office, Sebastian Büchner on Thursday. The background was apparently a mental illness.
Video: AFP
The suspect was known to the police. According to media information, he is said to have been noticed for domestic violence, physical injury, insult and trespassing.
Hesse shocked after driving amok in Berlin
In Hesse, people are in shock at the group of students affected from the state. “This shocking news from Berlin leaves me stunned and deeply affected. My thoughts are with the victims, who were full of joy on a class trip in the capital,” said Hesse’s new Minister President Boris Rhein (CDU) quoted.
Video: dpa
Hesse’s Minister of Education, Alexander Lorz (CDU), said: “We immediately sent emergency care teams to Bad Arolsen to help relatives, classmates and teachers.”
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A team from the school traveled to Berlin on Wednesday to support the young people on site and their parents: “In addition to clarifying this incident, it is important that the students can talk about the traumatic experiences.” Some of the young people and their parents, who came to Berlin on Wednesday, are now on their way home towards Hesse.
Steinmeier and Giffey commemorate the victims – Scholz speaks of an amok attack
Iris Spranger gave an update on whether it was an accident or a planned act. The interior senator on Twitter: “According to the latest information, today’s events on Tauentzienstrasse represent an amoktat by a mentally handicapped person.” She said on Thursday that she hardly slept a wink at night given the seriousness of the crime. Chancellor too Olaf Scholz (SPD) spoke of an “amoktat”.
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Emergency services at the scene of the accident: At least one person died after a car drove into a crowd.
Photo: Fabian Sommer, dpa
Federal President Frank Walter Steinmeier expressed dismay at what had happened. “My thoughts are with the seriously and very seriously injured, with the fatality,” explained the SPD politician: “And they are with those who had to experience terrible things. My deepest sympathy goes to them, all their relatives and survivors.”
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) spoke on Thursday of a “terrible act” and was “deeply shaken”. She visited the scene of the crime together with Berlin’s police chief Barbara Slowik. Many passers-by have laid down candles and flowers there. Faeser said she wanted to express the “heartfelt sympathy of the federal government” with the relatives of the dead teacher and the injured people. She also thanked all the rescue workers involved for their hard work.
Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) promised support to those affected: “We will do everything we can to help those affected.” Likewise, everything is being done to clarify what happened: “We know that we have one dead and ten seriously injured.” In the afternoon she got an idea of the situation on site.
Suspect Gor H. known to police: posters found in car
The driver is said to be 29 years old and living in Berlin. The police said it was a German-Armenian who had mental problems. He was naturalized in 2015. To dpainformation, the 29-year-old used his older sister’s vehicle.
In addition to documents, posters with inscriptions were also found in the car. Interior Senator Spranger said: “There is no real letter of confession.” Spranger spoke of “posters” that would contain statements about Turkey. The exact motivation of the driver must be examined. A police spokeswoman said: “We are still checking the nature of the statements on documents and posters found in the car.”
Car drives in a crowd in Berlin: bad memories are awakened
Some heavily armed police officers secured the area after the incident, and around 60 firefighters were on site. A rescue helicopter was also deployed. The accident happened in the immediate vicinity of Breitscheidplatz.
Therefore, the incident awakens bad memories. In December 2016, the assassin Anis Amri steered a truck into the Berlin Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz, killing 13 people. 70 people were injured in the rampage.
The incident is also reminiscent of the death of four people in the Mitte district in 2019: A man had left Invalidenstrasse in his heavy car. The SUV rolled over, killing a three-year-old and his grandmother and two men on the sidewalk. In February 2022, the driver was sentenced to a suspended sentence of two years. Despite suffering from epilepsy and undergoing brain surgery, he had been driving a month before the accident. (with dpa)
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