Prints tie suspect to truck
Berlin market reopens after deadly attack
Berlin — German officials presented mounting evidence Thursday that Anis Amri was behind the wheel of a truck that smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12, as authorities across Europe pressed ahead with their feverish manhunt for the 24-year-old Tunisian, who has evaded capture since the attack.
Police raided properties in Berlin and the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia where Amri is believed to have spent time. They also swooped on a bus in the southwestern city of Heilbronn after receiving a tip that turned up nothing.
No arrests were made, said Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors.
Even so, investigators were increasingly confident that Amri carried out the rampage after finding his fingerprints in the cab of the truck that had been hijacked shortly before Monday’s attack.
“We can tell you today that there are additional indications that this suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after visiting the Federal Criminal Police Office along with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“Fingerprints were found in the cab, and there are other, additional indications that suggest this,” he told reporters. “It is all the more important that the search is successful as soon as possible.”
German authorities have been on the defensive after it emerged that Amri had been considered a potential threat for months, subjected to surveillance and put in predeportation detention in August only to be released again due to paperwork problems.
The fact that the attack is alleged to have been carried out by a man who came to Germany seeking asylum last year also prompted fresh criticism of Merkel’s decision to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants into the country without thorough security checks.
While police have noted that most migrants are law-abiding, a number of high-profile crimes, including the New Year’s Eve assaults in Cologne and several violent attacks over the summer have stoked anti-migrant feeling in Germany. Two attacks in July, along with the truck attack in Berlin, were claimed by the Islamic State group.
“We have made great efforts in recent years to better prepare for terrorist threats,” Merkel told reporters. “This makes me confident that we will withstand the test that we now face.”
At the site of the bloodbath, Berliners made a show of defiance. Vendors reopened their stalls at the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church even as police placed concrete blocks by the roadside to provide extra security.
In tribute to the victims, organizers decided to do without festive music and bright lights. Berliners and visitors placed candles and flowers at a makeshift shrine for the victims.