Magdeburg Christmas market attack: Suspect 'Taleb A' spotted staring at armed cops after tragedy

Forced on the floor by armed police next to the wreck of the car used to drive into a busy Christmas market, the Magdeburg attack suspect is pictured for the first time, staring at approaching cops.

At least two people, including a toddler, were killed and dozens more injured when a car was driven into people at a busy Christmas market in Germany. The horror incident unfolded on Friday evening at the market in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt.

As many as 70 people are currently feared to have been injured in the atrocity. Regional government spokesperson Matthias Schuppe and city spokesperson Michael Reif said they suspected the attack was deliberate, reports The Mirror.

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A photo taken at the scene, shared by Bild, shows the bespectacled suspect on the ground next to a seriously damaged car with his neck arched up. He was named in Germany as Saudi Arabian native Taleb A. The 50-year-old has lived in Germany since 2006 and works as a doctor in the local hospital in Bernburg - around 28 miles from last night's scenes of horror.

Magdeburg: Police arrest suspect after Christmas market attack
(Image: AP)

The suspect, named as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen by MailOnline, was arrested Friday evening at the site of the attack as medical officials tended to the injured, and was taken into custody for questioning. Footage shared locally showed the moment of the arrest, as an armed police officer shouted at Taleb as he lay on the ground.

Images in Magdeburg also show the black BMW used in the attack with heavy damage on all sides. The black vehicle can be seen with all of its doors open and its windows smashed in.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser are due to travel to Magdeburg today, where a memorial service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening. Chancellor Scholz wrote on X: "My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg."

MAGDEBURG, GERMANY - DECEMBER 20: Police vans and ambulances stand next to the annual Christmas market in the city centre
(Image: Getty Images)





Special police forces attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024
(Image: AP)

Saxony-Anhalt's governor, Reiner Haseloff added: "As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city. Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many.

"It is really one of the worst things one can imagine, particularly in connection with what a Christmas market should bring."

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