German police and prosecutors issued a public wanted notice on Sunday for a 21-year-old man suspected in the van ramming near Berlin’s Pride festival, an attack that left one person dead and at least 16 others injured.
Authorities identified the fugitive as Abdul B. and appealed for public assistance in locating him. The notice warned residents to avoid “direct contact” with the suspect, cautioning that he may be armed and dangerous.
Investigators said the suspect is believed to have injured several people with a moving vehicle before one or more individuals left the vehicle. Several victims also appeared to have been stabbed, they added.
The attack unfolded Saturday night when a vehicle charged into the central Tiergarten park close to the Brandenburg Gate, striking crowds gathered for the city’s Christopher Street Day celebrations. The festivities were subsequently called off as emergency crews responded to the scene, with images showing survivors wrapped in thermal blankets near police cordons.
Police said the suspect was already known to them. “He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,” police spokesperson Florian Nath said. He added that authorities had “no information whatsoever regarding his specific motives, the exact sequence of events, or his role in the crime itself.”
The manhunt remained active into Sunday, with officers deploying across the German capital as investigators worked to establish a full account of the incident and confirm whether the suspect acted alone.
The assault struck one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ gatherings, an event that annually draws hundreds of thousands of participants to central Berlin. Security around major public celebrations in Germany has been reinforced in recent years following a series of vehicle-related attacks across the country.
Authorities have not confirmed a motive or formally classified the attack. Officials said the investigation is ongoing and urged anyone with information on the suspect’s whereabouts to contact police rather than approach him directly.