There were mounting questions on Sunday about whether the deadly attack on a German Christmas market could have been prevented after it emerged that various authorities across the country had received warnings and tip-offs about the perpetrator.
Five people were killed, including a child, and some 200 others wounded, when a man sped through the crowded Christmas market in the central city of Magdeburg on Friday evening.
The perpetrator, a 50-year-old doctor originally from Saudi Arabia, who has lived in Germany for nearly two decades and had permanent residency, is in pre-trial detention on counts of murder, attempted murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm.
He used unobstructed emergency lanes to speed through the Christmas market, hitting people at high speed. Four women aged 45, 52, 67, and 75, as well as a 9-year-old boy, were killed, authorities said.
Investigators say the suspect acted alone but that they were still trying to determine a motive.
What did authorities know about him?
Two days after the car-ramming attack, Germany was still in shock and mourning. But law enforcement agencies were also facing questions about what they knew about the driver and whether the tragedy might have been averted.
The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, said his agency had received a tip-off from Saudi Arabia in November 2023 that led officers to investigate the attacker – identified only as Taleb A in keeping with German privacy laws.
In an interview with public broadcaster ZDF, he said “appropriate investigative measures” had been taken, but that the warnings were unspecific.
“He had also had various contacts with authorities, made insults and even threats. But he was not known for violent acts,” said Münch of the doctor.
He said the BKA would review whether any mistakes were made in the way the investigation was handled.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said it received information about Taleb A in the late summer of 2023.
BAMF said on X it received information about the man via its social media and that the tip was “was taken seriously.” But the agency noted that since it cannot conduct law enforcement investigations, it referred the tipster to the responsible agency.
Screenshots are circulating online that supposedly show messages directed to BAMF from a person who had warnings about Taleb A. The authenticity of these screenshots could not be verified by dpa.
The Sunday edition of the Welt newspaper reported on a woman who sent warnings about Taleb A to BAMF’s account on X at the end of 2023.
She had previously tried to warn the Berlin police about the man – however, her email did not arrive because she accidentally sent it to the police of a municipality called Berlin in the United States, the newspaper reported.
Taleb A was on the radar of Berlin judiciary, however. According to sources who spoke to dpa, the public prosecutor’s office in the city had brought charges against him for misuse of emergency calls.
Tom-Oliver Langhans, director of the Magdeburg police, said on Saturday that police in his city had filed a criminal complaint against Taleb A in the past, too. This proceeding dates back about a year and is now part of the attack investigation.
Magdeburg is a city of some 237,000 people in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, 130 kilometres west of Berlin.
Suspect is Islam-critical activist
Taleb A was known as an activist who was critical of Islam. He has made erratic accusations on social media and in interviews, claiming German authorities are not doing enough to combat Islamism.
Previously an advocate for Saudi women fleeing their country, he later advised against seeking asylum in Germany, writing on his website in English and Arabic: “My advice: don’t ask for asylum in Germany.”
Just 10 days ago, the US platform RAIR, which describes itself as an anti-Muslim grass-roots organization, published an interview with the doctor that is more than 45 minutes long.
In it, he accused the German police of deliberately destroying the lives of Saudi asylum seekers who had renounced Islam. He also presented himself as a fan of X owner Elon Musk and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which he said was pursuing the same goals as he was.
At the same time, however, he described himself as politically left-wing.
Too early for definitive assessment
Münch told ZDF on Saturday that it is not conclusively possible to say that the act was politically motivated, although he acknowledged the suspect displayed an anti-Islamic attitude and engaged in activity on far-right platforms.
Chief Public Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens in Magdeburg speculated that the motive could be dissatisfaction with the handling of refugees from Saudi Arabia in Germany.
Saudi Arabia’s warning
Saudi Arabian security sources said they had warned Germany about the suspected attacker and had requested the extradition of the suspect, but Germany had not responded.
They said the man was a Shiite Muslim who comes from the city of Al-Hofuf in eastern Saudi Arabia. Shiites are a minority in the country, making up only around 10% in the majority Sunni nation.
There are repeated reports of discrimination against Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia.
Taleb A arrived in Germany in 2006. Dpa has learned that he applied for asylum in February 2016 and was granted political refugee status in July of that year.
A passer-by with an umbrella and police officers stand in front tributes for the victims of the Christmas market attack. On 20 December 2024, a driver drove into a group of people at the Christmas market in Magdeburg. There were several fatalities and injuries. Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
Numerous candles placed in front of the Christmas market as a tribute for the victims of the Magdeburg Christmas market attack. On 20 December, a man drove into a group of people at the Christmas market in Magdeburg. There were several fatalities and injuries. Sebastian Kahnert/dpa