Police confirm death of suspect in Berlin’s terror attack in special op
According to current findings, the suspect is said to have rushed toward our emergency forces with a stabbing weapon, after which police firearms were used by our SEK Berlin
BERLIN, July 26. /TASS/. The Berlin police have confirmed that the suspect in the car-ramming attack in the Tiergarten Park area in central Berlin was shot and killed during a special operation.
"Around 6 p.m., the suspect in yesterday's attack in the Grosser Tiergarten was located in an allotment garden facility in Spandau. According to current findings, he is said to have rushed toward our emergency forces with a stabbing weapon, after which police firearms were used by our SEK (Special Task Force - TASS) Berlin. Despite immediate resuscitation measures initiated by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene," the police wrote on X.
The incident occurred around 10:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. GMT) in the Tiergarten Park area near Potsdamer Platz. The driver of a "small white van" ran over several people, crashed into a tree, then left the car and fled in an unknown direction.
The attacker was identified as Abdul Ballut, 21, a German citizen of the Lebanese origin. Police say he was a supporter of the Islamic State, a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia. According to German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, it was an Islamic terror attack. He also said that the man had also attacked people with a machete. As a result, one woman died and 29 more people were injured.
Ballut had previously been convicted for plotting a terrorist attack and had completed a mandatory deradicalization program. Police removed the white car that was used in the ramming attack. Investigators will conduct a thorough search for evidence.