On Tuesday afternoon, a car drove into the pedestrian zone in Trier in western Germany and drove into people. Among the victims, according to Mayor Wolfram Liebe, is a nine-month-old baby girl. The oldest victim is a 73-year-old woman. A 25-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man also died. All the dead were locals.
The mayor expressed his sincere condolences to his relatives. “I don’t see how anyone can be attacked by an SUV driving people to kill them,” the mayor told a news conference.
According to the Federal Minister of the Interior Roger Lewentz, the killer drove into people with the intention of killing as many of them as possible. “The footage shows that he rode zigzag and tried to hit as many people as possible,” Lewentz said.
The minister said four people had died. Another four people are in serious condition, five people have suffered moderate injuries and six are slightly injured.
Police detained the driver shortly after the crime. This is a 51-year-old man from the Trier-Saarburg district. According to the police, the motive is not yet known. But there is no indication that the reason is terrorism. The police also ruled out a political or religious motive. The most probable reason seems to be mental illness. The man was also under the influence of alcohol, inhaling 1.4 per mille.
Police also released a map of the area in which the man was killing. The car drove 900 meters in the pedestrian zone.
The perpetrator crossed the pedestrian zone of #Trier and left a trail of devastation. pic.twitter.com/EGXJ5MpvKd
– Police Trier (@PolizeiTrier) December 1, 2020
Witnesses said that some of the injured or victims were thrown by a collision with a car high into the air.
“We arrested one person and secured one vehicle. According to initial findings, two people died. Please continue avoiding the city center. Caring for the injured is an absolute priority,” she added. It was supposed to be a big SUV.
Images from the pedestrian zone in central Trier pic.twitter.com/6C5eavpuvm
– Xy5Z89 (@ Xy5Z89) December 1, 2020
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