The suspect in a car-ramming attack on a German Christmas market is charged with murder
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BERLIN (AP) — The suspect in a deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has been charged with murder, attempted murder and bodily harm, prosecutors said Tuesday, claiming he was trying to kill as many people as possible.
Five women and a boy died, and many more people were wounded, in the Dec. 20 attack that lasted just over a minute.
Authorities have identified the suspect as a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency. They haven’t officially released his name, in keeping with German privacy rules.
In an indictment filed to the state court in Magdeburg, prosecutors say he is charged with six counts of murder, 338 counts of attempted murder and 309 counts of bodily harm. He is also accused of dangerous interference with road traffic.
Murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. The Magdeburg court will decide whether to send the case to trial.
Prosecutors said the man wasn’t under the influence of alcohol and apparently carried out the attack “out of dissatisfaction and frustration with the course and outcome of a civil law dispute and the failure of various criminal complaints.”
They said he aimed to kill as many people as possible and had spent several weeks planning the attack, without accomplices or anyone else knowing about his plans. The attack was carried out with a rented BMW X3, which reached speeds of up to 48 kph (30 mph) during the rampage.
Officials have said the suspect doesn’t fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam and on social media expressed support for the far-right.
The suspect had previously come to authorities’ attention for threatening behavior but wasn’t known to have committed any violence.