The Christmas market in Magdeburg was full of people when the perpetrator drove straight into the stalls.
Now a man named in the German media as “Taleb A” is suspected of five murders and over 200 attempted murders. In the media, there are two variants of his real name, Taleb Adbul Jawad, and Taleb al-Abdulmosen.
The 50-year-old was a doctor and psychiatrist, and worked at a prison in Bernburg. There he treated inmates with addiction problems.
Colleagues write in a statement that they are deeply shocked, and that the man worked for them since 2020. Since the end of October, he had not been on duty due to “vacation and illness”.
An initial test showed that the suspected perpetrator was under the influence of drugs during the attack. An X account that German media links to the 50-year-old has spread several extreme views. There, the cover image is an automatic weapon, and the description expresses how “Germany wants to Islamize Europe”.
Taleb Adbul Jawad, or Taleb al-Abdulmosen, has himself told in interviews about his criticism of Islam and Saudi Arabia, which he moved from 2006.
Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens has stated that they are investigating whether the background to the attack may have to do with dissatisfaction with how refugees from Saudi Arabia are treated in Germany, but that the motive is currently unclear.
Police: Diffuse motive
Holger Münch, head of Germany’s federal police agency, says the circumstances surrounding the motive are still too vague to judge, reports Zeit with reference to a television interview in ZDF.
The suspect has anti-Islamic views, and has also had to do with far-right platforms, according to the police chief. However, it cannot be established that the act was politically motivated.
– We have a very atypical pattern here, and now we have to analyze it calmly.
Holger Münch also confirms the information that Saudi Arabia contacted them regarding the suspected perpetrator, and says that it happened in November 2023. Now the authorities are said to be reviewing their actions regarding the man.
– He had several contacts with the authorities, with insults, and sometimes even threats. But there are no known acts of violence.