By Christopher F. Schuetze and Melissa Eddy
In just three minutes, an assailant managed to kill five people and injure hundreds by crashing an SUV into a bustling holiday market on Friday night, shocking Germany and disrupting the serenity typically associated with the Christmas season.
Around 7 p.m. on Friday, the market in the eastern city of Magdeburg was brimming with families and friends enjoying the sparkle of fairy lights on the eve of the last workday before the holiday festivities.
However, the weekend commenced with unspeakable terror. Authorities identified the assailant as a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had resided in Germany for nearly twenty years. He deftly navigated a rented SUV through a gap in the security barriers designated for emergency vehicles, steering directly toward the heart of the market’s festivities.
He accelerated with the intent to harm as many individuals as possible, according to police reports.
After injuring numerous people, he attempted to flee through another gap at the end of the square but was halted by traffic. Police quickly converged on the vehicle, apprehending him as he was forced to the ground.
Among the deceased were a 9-year-old child and four adults, with more than 200 others injured, 41 of whom suffered injuries severe enough to raise concerns that the death toll might climb in the following days. The sheer number of injured was so great that some were transported to hospitals in neighboring states.
City officials from Magdeburg revealed the perpetrator’s name only as Taleb A., adhering to Germany’s privacy regulations, and indicated that his motives were under investigation.
The individual, who officials noted had first arrived in Germany in 2006, is currently in custody as they pursue five murder charges and over 200 attempted murder charges against him.
According to officials, the suspect resided in Bernburg, approximately 25 miles south of Magdeburg, and police conducted a search of an apartment in the area late Friday. A clinic corroborated to local media that the doctor practiced psychiatry and psychotherapy at their facility, as reported by two German news outlets.
The doctor was active on social media, sharing posts that criticized Germany for what he perceived as the authorities’ tolerance of radical Islam, as confirmed by German media. A security source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case, affirmed the accuracy of these reports.
Additionally, he expressed support for the anti-immigrant political group Alternative for Germany, sharing comments from its leaders about the risks of Islamic law being imposed in Germany.
Video footage captured shortly after the incident showed a man with a neat beard and round, wire-rimmed glasses lying flat on the ground next to a BMW with its front end badly damaged, while officers aimed their firearms at him, instructing him to remain still.
Local authorities believe that the driver acted independently.
Yet, in Magdeburg and nationwide, the attack shattered the tranquility that many sought during a tumultuous time for Germany, which is bracing for a challenging winter as it faces snap elections in February following the government’s collapse earlier this month.
Henriette Winkler, 36, who visited the market just hours before the tragedy, represented many Magdeburg residents who anticipated a peaceful Christmas. “Now, I can hardly feel the Christmas spirit anymore,” she expressed.
The German populace entered the weekend eager to embrace the holiday season after a year marked by worries over a stagnant economy, rising job losses, and political standstill that culminated with the chancellor’s confidence vote loss in parliament.
“There’s no place more peaceful and joyous than a Christmas market,” remarked Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited the market on Saturday morning. “It is a horrific act to inflict such harm and death upon so many people in such a cruel manner.”
Ronni Krug, a member of the Magdeburg City Council, defended the market’s security measures as adequate, stating that the routes breached by the attacker were essential for allowing ambulances access and were monitored by police.
The security, which included substantial concrete barriers and police presence, was enhanced this year in response to a knife attack last summer that resulted in three fatalities and several injuries.
Following that incident, which took place during a street festival in western Germany, knives were prohibited at holiday markets nationwide, prompting increased security at festive events across Magdeburg and beyond.
In 2016, an Islamic extremist drove a truck into a crowd at a Christmas market in central Berlin, resulting in 13 deaths. Since then, concrete barriers at the entrances to street fairs and holiday markets have become a common sight in Germany, accompanied by security cameras and a stronger police presence, including undercover officers mingling with the crowds.
A row of large concrete blocks painted in red and green marked the boundary of the Magdeburg Christmas market, which was set up in narrow streets lined with wooden stalls adorned with twinkling lights offering hot mulled wine, sausages, and gifts.
Following Friday’s incident, cities throughout Germany deployed additional patrols to the thousands of Christmas markets that remained active on Saturday. In Cologne, authorities prohibited the presence of suitcases and larger bags at the market near the cathedral. In Leipzig, police established extra barriers at the market entrances.
“We will need to have a serious conversation about security, but not today,” Reiner Haseloff, the governor of Saxony-Anhalt, told reporters on Saturday. “Today, we are in mourning.”
Germany must engage in an “intense discussion” regarding the measures necessary to ensure that “citizens feel that in Germany, we possess safe Christmas markets, and that we can live our lives freely,” Haseloff stated.
Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt with a population of about 240,000, was once part of Communist East Germany. The annual market is located centrally in the city, in front of City Hall. On Saturday, people gathered to leave flowers at a memorial placed on the steps of the Johanniskirche, or St. John’s Church, near the location of the attack.
Throughout Saturday, the collection of flowers at the church steps increased as visibly affected individuals came to pay their respects and grieve.
Marko Heyer, 49, from Magdeburg, visited the church with his wife, both struggling to hold back tears. Heyer reminisced about visiting the market, with its enchanting section for children and typical stalls offering food and gifts when he was young.
“In my opinion, it was the loveliest Christmas market in Germany,” he remarked. “It will never be the same again.”
Surveillance footage circulating on social media and verified by The New York Times on Friday depicted a car colliding with a large crowd at the market shortly after 7 p.m. The vehicle then veered right onto another busy street. Post-incident footage demonstrated individuals assisting the injured amid audible cries for help.
On Saturday, hundreds congregated within and around Magdeburg’s Gothic cathedral for a memorial service for the victims. Several hundred also protested nearby, many chanting, “Deport, deport.”
Inside the cathedral, Scholz, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, other dignitaries, as well as emergency responders and mourners, listened as Lutheran bishop Friedrich Kramer sought to find meaning in the devastation.
“The brutal attack last evening leaves us feeling sad and angry, helpless and fearful, uncertain and desperate, speechless and astonished, and profoundly impacted,” he stated. “The Christmas market, once a place of peace, has been shattered.”
