Van attack kills 2, injures 20 in Germany
Driver commits suicide; police look for motive
The driver of a delivery truck plowed into a crowd in the German city of Muenster on Saturday, killing at least two people and injuring 20 before fatally shooting himself, German officials said.
Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Muenster is located, said the driver of the van was a German citizen.
He stressed the investigation is at an early stage but “nothing speaks for there being any Islamist background.”
Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper identified the driver as a 49-year-old German, Jens. H., who, it said, had a history of psychological problems.
Adreas Bode, spokesman for the German police, said six of the injured were in severe condition.
The driver slammed into people sitting in front of the Kiepenkerl pub, a popular gathering place for residents and tourists in Muenster’s historic old town, then shot and killed himself inside the vehicle.
Photographs of the scene posted on social media show scattered tables and chairs.
Police cordoned off a wide section of the area after finding a suspicious object inside the vehicle.
Muenster Mayor Markus Lewe said the reason for the crash is still unclear.
Muenster, with a population of 300,000, is located in northwest Germany in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia about 30 miles from the Dutch border.
In 2016, the driver of a stolen truck plowed the vehicle into a crowd of people attending the Christmas market in a public square in Berlin, killing 12 people.