An overnight confrontation in a Berlin suburb resulted in authorities fatally shooting the suspect linked to a tragic attack during Berlin Pride, which cost one life and injured 29 others.
The suspect, Abdul Ballout, a German citizen, was located and neutralized nearly a day after the harrowing incident unfolded in central Berlin.
At just 21 years old, Ballout allegedly rammed a van into the crowd at the Berlin Pride celebration on Saturday evening, before reportedly assaulting others with a machete.
According to Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, the distressing events took place just a short distance from a celebration near Brandenburg Gate intended to mark the finale of the city’s Pride festivities.
Ballout was eventually discovered at approximately 2am AEST on Monday in a garden located in Spandau, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Berlin, according to city police via social media platform X. They recounted that Ballout seemingly charged at officers with a bladed weapon, prompting law enforcement to discharge at least one bullet, resulting in his death on the spot.
What we know about the Berlin attack suspect
Ballout was born in Germany, the minister said. His mother was naturalised in 2002, three years before he was born.
Dobrindt said Ballout had been known to the authorities for a “high number” of previous crimes and for being radicalised.
“Everything we see here indicates that this was an Islamist terror attack,” he said.
Prosecutors said Ballout had previous convictions for bodily harm and extortion committed in 2019, and one for robbery in 2020.
They say that in 2024 he shared IS propaganda on Instagram and the following year travelled to Lebanon in order to fight for the militia in Syria.
He was arrested in Lebanon and sentenced to three months’ prison for offences including incitement to religious and sectarian conflict.
He returned to Germany after completing his sentence, where he was arrested at the Berlin airport.
In May, a juvenile court in Berlin convicted Ballout of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, as well as publishing the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group’s propaganda on his Instagram account and other charges, prosecutors said.
The court handed down a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months in youth custody, which Berlin prosecutors had appealed.
The court said it took Ballout’s months of pre-trial detention in Germany and Lebanon into account. It also said it considered that Ballout had confessed to the crimes, appeared to distance himself from the militant group, and no actual threat had ever materialised.
He was released from detention pending the appeal.
‘Won’t beat us down’
According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park around 10 pm on Saturday and hit several people before colliding with a tree. The closing party at the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day (CSD), was ongoing at the time next to the Brandenburg Gate, a short distance away. The party followed a parade with some 80 trucks that had made its way through downtown Berlin earlier in the day.
The attack did not occur at the festival, along its route or at the closing party. Rather, the violence took place a few hundred metres away on a track in the Tiergarten park. The van drove into a crowd that was likely a mix of festivalgoers and other locals or visitors.
Police said a woman was killed.
On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of mourners gathered at a memorial at the iconic gate. They hugged each other and laid down flowers, candles, rainbow flags and homemade signs, including a cardboard one that said: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love”.
Hundreds of thousands had come to Berlin to celebrate on Saturday, though it’s unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening. It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.
Luka, a 23-year-old student, told Agence France-Presse (AFp) she hoped the attack wouldn’t be exploited by the surging anti-immigration far-right ahead of elections in the capital and in several regions in September.
At the scene of the attack itself, people left flowers and handwritten messages of condolence and support.
Armin Duenhoelter, 49, from Wolfsburg, who works as a drag artist, was backstage at the main stage when the attack cut short the celebrations.
He told AFP early Sunday that he was still shocked but vowed to be back for next year’s CSD.
“We won’t let it beat us down,” he said.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the nation to remain united in the aftermath of the attack.
“I would like to say this to Christopher Street Day participants here in Berlin but also across Germany: Don’t let yourselves, let us not let ourselves, be intimidated,” he said.
“These acts have only one purpose: They aim to divide our society. They want to take away from us the most important thing we have: Namely our openness and our freedom.”