German attack ‘no terror threat’
German investigators were puzzling yesterday over the motives of a man who drove a van into a crowd at an open-air restaurant the day before, killing two people before shooting himself dead.
“So far there are no clues to a possible motive for the act,” said Martin Botzenhardt, senior prosecutor in the western city of Münster where the attack happened, in a statement.
“We are pressing hard in our investigation into all possible avenues.”
Authorities were near-certain there was no Islamist connection to the violence in the historic centre of Münster as had initially been feared. Yesterday they said they believed the driver had acted alone.
Media reports said the 48-yearold German driver, identified only as Jens R, had a history of mental health problems.
The two victims killed were a 51-year-old woman and a 65-yearold man.
As well as the dead, police said 20 were injured. The Dutch foreign ministry said two of those hurt were Dutch, one of whom was in a critical condition.
In the van, police found the gun used by the driver to kill himself, a blank-firing pistol and some
In a Berlin assault in December 2016, Tunisian asylum-seeker Anis Amri hijacked a truck and murdered its Polish driver before killing another 11 people and wounding dozens more by ploughing through a Christmas market. powerful fireworks.
A search of the man’s Münster apartment on Saturday turned up more fireworks and a deactivated AK47 assault rifle.
Armed police cordoned off a wide area around the scene of the attack, urging residents to avoid the city centre to allow investigators to get to work.
The presidents of Russia and France, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron, as well as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sent their condolences. – AFP