2 dead, 20 hurt after vehicle crashes into German crowd
MUENSTER, Germany — A psychologically disturbed man plowed a van into a crowd in the northern German city of Muenster on Saturday afternoon, killing two people and injuring 20 before shooting himself, German officials said.
The attack sparked fears on a continent that has been hit repeatedly by attacks in which vehicles have been turned into weapons in crowded city centers. But a top German official said that investigators did not believe the attack was by a terrorist.
“At the moment, there is no evidence that there is any Islamist background” to the attack, said Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North-Rhine Westphalia, the state where Muenster is located. He said the suspect was a German citizen and that investigators are still working to establish a motive.
A senior German security official briefed on the ongoing investigation said that investigators believe the attacker was the 48-year-old in whose name the van is registered and that he had recently tried to take his life.
Police also dispatched a bomb squad to the scene to check whether there were explosives in the van, the senior security official said.
The van injured 20 people, six seriously, after it ran into a group of outdoor tables at a restaurant, North Rhine-Westphalia police spokesman Andreas Bode told reporters.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that “in light of the horrible incident in Muenster, I’m deeply shocked. Everything possible is being done to investigate the act and support the victims and their families.”
Large portions of the city center remained shut down hours later, as helicopters hovered and police officers with large rifles blocked streets.
Images of the city center showed a small delivery van that appeared to have hopped onto a sidewalk off the street and plowed through the seats and tables of an outdoor cafe. Chairs were scattered and broken across a small cobblestone plaza. The incident took place at the square surrounding the Kiepenkerl statue, a city landmark that commemorates a traveling peddler.
“I heard a loud, dull noise and suddenly everyone started shouting,” a witness, Steffen Simonsen, told Germany’s ARD broadcaster. “Everyone started running toward the square and about a minute later, a police car had already arrived.”
The Kiepenkerl area is a favorite of both tourists and locals. Saturday was the warmest day of the year, with weather hitting 76 degrees in the city of 300,000, drawing people onto the streets to lounge in the sunshine.
“The weather was fantastic, and all restaurants had put chairs outside. There were lots of people,” Simonsen said.
Local news outlets said that police were already deployed in larger-thannormal numbers in the city center that afternoon to keep watch over a proKurdish demonstration. When the van plowed across the square midafternoon, officers were able to divert quickly.
Ugur Hur was working at a nearby cafe downtown when the crash took place.
“I heard a loud bang, screaming. And the police arrived and everyone was sent out,” he said. “A lot of people were running away screaming.”