German police hunt suspect in Berlin Pride van-ramming attack that left 1 dead and 16 injured - AP News

What the report says

The Associated Press reports that German authorities say the suspect in the deadly attack near Berlin’s Pride celebrations was killed Sunday evening in a confrontation with police in a suburb of the capital. The man was identified by AP as Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots. Authorities had searched for him for nearly 24 hours after the Saturday night attack in downtown Berlin.

According to AP, a vehicle was driven into people gathered near the city’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride event, and the incident also involved a stabbing. One person was killed. AP’s public article text says 29 people were injured, while earlier material and captions in the same report referred to at least 16 injured. Germany’s interior minister said the attack is believed to have been an Islamic extremist act of terrorism, AP reported.

The attack prompted public mourning and political appeals for calm. Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Germans not to let the violence deepen social divisions, and Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed shock after the vehicle struck people around the Pride gathering. Images described by AP showed people assembling at the Brandenburg Gate, which was lit with the message “Berlin, city of freedom,” and others gathering near the scene to remember the victims and show support for LGBTQ+ people.

The case matters because it struck one of Germany’s most visible LGBTQ+ events and is being treated by officials as a suspected extremist attack. Further details on the police confrontation and the investigation have not been fully reported in the supplied AP material.