An SUV driver attacked an 83-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man during carnival festivities, killing them and injuring several others.
In what police described as a planned attack, a car crashed into crowds in the heart of Mannheim, Germany, killing two people and injuring numerous others.
The driver of a black Ford Fiesta, who was reportedly receiving medical attention for his injuries in a hospital under strict police protection, was taken into custody by police. The suspect, a 40-year-old German man from the southwest state of Rhineland-Palatinate, is thought to have acted alone, according to Thomas Strobl, the interior minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
After ruling out a “politically motivated act,” investigators later stated that there were “concrete indications” that the man had mental health issues.
A 54-year-old man and an 83-year-old woman were named as the victims.
After the car crashed into the crowd and headed toward a water tower, witnesses reported seeing people lying on the ground close to the central pedestrianized Paradeplatz. At least two people were being tried for resuscitation.
The driver purposefully crashed his vehicle into the carnival revelers prior to the Lenten fast, according to German police and prosecutors.
Then, according to local media reports, a taxi driver who was taking a break at a cafe and saw the attack blocked him, got into his car, and drove into the path of the Ford Fiesta.
The taxi driver was not hurt when the assailant fired at him with what is thought to have been an alarm pistol. After that, he injured himself with a shot from the alarm pistol and ran away on foot before the police could apprehend him.
Police say the man works as a landscape gardener and is under investigation for attempted and actual murder.
The incident comes after a series of violent attacks, which included two other car rammings in Magdeburg in December and Munich last month. In May 2024, a police officer was stabbed to death and five others were injured in Mannheim.
Before Germany’s general election last month, a contentious discussion about the nation’s immigration policy was stoked by the fact that all of those attacks were committed by migrants. The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland came in second with its best-ever result, while the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, which ran on promises to strengthen border controls, won the vote.
Rosenmontag (Rose Monday), the culmination of Germany’s carnival season, is marked by fancy dress crowds and parades of floats that usually showcase humorous and satirical depictions of current events. On Sunday, Mannheim’s main parade took place.
More than a week ago, security forces warned the public and carnival organizers about warnings posted on social media accounts affiliated with the militant group Islamic State, which called on followers to carry out attacks in the southern and Rhineland carnival strongholds, which are both Catholic regions. Mannheim is part of the Rhineland.
According to a spokesperson, Nancy Faeser, Germany’s interior minister, canceled her planned attendance at a well-attended parade in Cologne on Monday in order to travel to Mannheim.
In an X post, Friedrich Merz, the probable next chancellor of Germany, stated that “the incident – as well as the terrible acts of the past few months – is an urgent reminder that we must do everything we can to prevent such acts.” Olaf Scholz, the departing chancellor, wrote on X, in reference to the stabbing attack from the previous year: “Once again we mourn with Mannheim.” We once more join the families of those killed in a senseless act of violence in their grief.
“It breaks one’s heart,” 57-year-old Kasim Timur, who owns a cafe on Paradeplatz, told Der Spiegel. According to him, one of his coworkers claimed to have seen some of the children and other seriously injured. According to him, another coworker saw a dark-colored Ford car speeding toward Paradeplatz while she was en route to work at the cafe.
He claimed that at first she believed it was someone who had caused an accident and run away. “She didn’t realize what had happened until much later.” According to Timur, the stabbing attack that occurred less than a year ago has not yet been forgotten in the city. “The horror has returned,” he informed Spiegel. “That is really frightening.”
Three patients, two adults and a child, were reportedly undergoing emergency care at University Hospital Mannheim, according to media reports. The hospital reported that eight medical trauma teams were on standby to treat both adults and children.
Police warned that there were many “false reports” going around on social media and asked people not to share videos from the attack or information that had not been verified.
