Berlin (dpa) – The man who rammed his car into vehicles on a Berlin motorway in an alleged Islamist attack had not been flagged to security authorities in the German capital prior to the rampage, an official said.
“He was not on the radar,” a spokesman for the city’s state interior department said, noting that the special police division for politically motivated crimes had no intelligence on the suspect.
The 30-year-old Iraqi was on police records for previous crimes such as battery and resisting officers, however.
The man deliberately crashed into vehicles on the city highway late Tuesday, targeting motorcyclists in particular, according to prosecutors.
Six people were injured, three of them seriously.
The suspect has been temporarily ordered into psychiatric care and is under investigation for attempted murder.
The alleged extremist came to Germany as an asylum seeker but his claim was denied. At the time of the attack, he was permitted residence pending deportation.
The fact that the man is being held in a psychiatric facility does not automatically mean he will be waived culpability on mental health grounds, sources from the investigation told dpa.
Public prosecutor Margarete Koppers noted on Wednesday that targeted behaviour was still possible even with psychological illness.
A firefighter who was seriously injured while travelling home from work on Tuesday remains in intensive care, one of his colleagues said.
“His condition is serious. We are thinking of him and wish him the best,” a fire brigade spokesman said early Thursday.
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