A man suspected of ploughing a car through crowds at a German Christmas market in an attack that killed five people and injured scores faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday.
The suspect, 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 and is also charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The suspect held strongly anti-Islam views and was angry with Germany’s migrant policy, officials said on Saturday.
Police agencies were on Sunday facing questions about what they knew about the suspect 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 suspect – identified as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen.
News magazine Der Spiegel, citing unnamed security sources, said the Saudi secret service had warned Germany’s spy agency BND a year ago about a tweet in which Abdulmohsen threatened Germany would pay a “price” for how it treated Saudi refugees.