A man in a police vest walks near a car that collided with a group of pedestrians in Berlin, June 8. MICHELLE TANTUSI / Reuters
Authorities have not yet identified a motive Thursday for a 29-year-old Armenian German who crashed his car into a group of students in Berlin, killing a teacher and leaving another to fight for his life, but said there was no connection to terrorism. .
Investigators, with the help of an interpreter, were trying to make sense of “at times the confusing statements he was making” during the interrogation, Berlin Mayor Francisco Gifi told RBB’s Inforadio, describing a “dark day in Berlin’s history”.
The crash injured about 30 people, including 14 students, seven of whom were seriously injured and rushed to hospital after a car peeked into a pedestrian zone in Berlin’s busy Charlottenburg shopping district, police said.
Families mourned the teacher who was killed while leading students to the end of the course in the German capital of the small town of Bad Arolsen in the state of Hesse.
The suspect, who was naturalized as a German citizen in 2015, had previously been known to police in connection with injuries and bodily harm, said Iris Spranger, Berlin’s interior minister.
Police searched his home. Attorney General Sebastian Buchner told reporters, “as part of the search, drugs were found and the man, through his lawyers, released his doctors from the obligation of secrecy… so many point to paranoid schizophrenia.”
The accident happened near the site of a fatal attack in 2016, when a truck crashed into a crowded Christmas market.
A witness to the scene said that the driver immediately showed remorse when he collided after the accident.
“He was surrounded by five or six men, not detained, but surrounded (gestures) so that he could not escape,” said Marcus Lepmeier. “He was also wounded, he had a torn head, a very large swelling, and he kept saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry.'”
Residents of Bad Arolsen struggled with tears over an incident reminiscent of an attack in the nearby town of Folkmarsen when a man crashed his car into a carnival parade in 2020, injuring dozens, including 20 children.
“He’s bringing back a lot of photos from Folkmarsen,” said Ellen Shrek, 45, whose son attended the school he is from. She described the situation as “absolute horror”.
“It’s usually a quiet little town… you always think you’re in a safe balloon here. But that’s not the case anymore. “
People presented flowers and candles at the Kaulbach school, which closed on Thursday. Parents and a team from the school traveled to Berlin to help care for the children.
“We are all deeply saddened,” said Almut Will-Olivieri, who owns a pizzeria next to the school. “The city is just in shock.”
Of the students who left for Berlin, 17 returned to Hesse, some with their parents and others on a specially organized bus. A team of psychiatric workers worked with the police at the school to support the children.
“This is a very difficult day for us and we have really heavy hearts,” said Prime Minister Boris Ryan during a visit to the school.
“It will continue to have an effect for a long time to come.”
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