Prosecutors ‘no idea’ why man drove into crowd outside pub
German prosecutors still have no indication why a 48-yearold man drove a van into a crowd of people in the city of Munster, killing two and injuring20beforeshootinghimself dead inside the van.
“As of now, we don’t have any leads regarding a possible background for the deed,” prosecutor Martin Botzenhardt wrote in a joint statement with police.
“The investigations are being led under high pressure in all possible directions.”
Authorities have identified the two fatalities of Saturday’s crash as a 51-year-old woman from Luneburg and a 65-yearold man from Broken.
Local media have identified the perpetrator as a German industrial designer living in Munster who had been suffering from psychological problems, but police would not confirm the details.
All three bodies were taken from the scene in front of the well-known Kiepenkerl pub early on Saturday night.
The silver-grey van was towed away hours later after explosives experts had checked it.
“The van is not at the crime scene any more, all kinds of objects have also been removed, waste of course, as well as evidence that we’ve found on the ground,” police spokeswoman Susanne Dirkorte said.
Inside the van, police found illegal firecrackers disguised as a fake bomb, a fake pistol and the gun the perpetrator used to kill himself.
Inside the man’s flat, which was near the crash scene and was raided late on Saturday, police found more firecrackers and a “no longer usable AK-47 machine gun”.
Police said some of the 20 injured people had life-threatening injuries but did not give further details.
The local daily Muenstersche Zeitung newspaper reported that the perpetrator had vaguely announced his suicide plans a week ago in an email to friends, and that he was known to the authorities for previous violence and drug violations.
The city was buzzing on one of the first warm spring days of the year and people were sitting outside the Kiepenkerl when he drove into the bar’s tables with such force that the van only came to a stop when it hit the pub wall.
Police quickly evacuated the area and ambulances, firefighters and helicopters rushed to the scene to aid the injured.
The city’s Roman Catholic bishop, Felix Glenn, invited Munster’s citizens to a joint Roman Catholic-lutheran memorial service at the Paulus Cathedral last night.
Munster is a popular university city with 300,000 inhabitants.
It is also a known tourist destination, famous for its medieval old town, which was rebuilt after massive destruction during the Second World War.