Berlin police kill suspect in Pride festival attack after manhunt - NBC News

What the report says

NBC News reported that Berlin police shot and killed a 21-year-old suspect Sunday after a manhunt tied to a deadly attack during the city’s Pride celebrations. Police said the man was located around 6 p.m. at an allotment garden complex in Spandau and was fatally shot after allegedly rushing at members of a special police unit with a knife as they attempted to arrest him. Firefighters tried to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene.

Authorities accused the suspect of driving a vehicle into people near Brandenburg Gate on Saturday night and then attacking others with a bladed weapon. One woman was killed and 29 people were injured, according to officials cited by NBC News. Berlin’s fire department said three of the injured had life-threatening wounds and eight others were seriously hurt.

Police identified the suspect as Abdul B.; Germany’s Interior Ministry later gave his last name as Ballout. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the case as pointing to an Islamist attack and said the suspect, a German citizen of Lebanese background, had been known to police. Prosecutors said he had previously been sentenced in Berlin for preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state and for violating a ban under the Associations Act, after an attempted trip to Syria and online publication of prohibited Islamic State propaganda.

The attack occurred as hundreds of thousands attended one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ events. Officials said it happened outside the secured festival zone, affecting people traveling to or from the celebration. Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the violence, while Berlin and European officials framed the attack as an assault on freedom, tolerance and LGBTQ+ rights.