Magdeburg mourns Christmas market attack victims as fears swirl of deeper German social divisions

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Mourners laid flowers near the scene of the deadly Christmas market attack on Monday as investigators puzzled over the motive of the suspect and his previous encounters with authorities were scrutinized, while fears swirled that the rampage could deepen divisions in German society.

The Johanniskirche, a church a short walk from the scene of the attack, has become a central place of mourning since the suspect drove a car into the busy market on Friday evening, killing five people. A carpet of flowers now covers the broad sidewalk in front of the church.

Prosecutors said the number of injured has risen to as many as 235 as more people have reported to hospitals and doctors, but it’s possible there was some double-counting.

Authorities have identified the suspect as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency. They say he doesn’t fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam, and on social media expressed support for the far-right.

A picture has emerged of someone who had come to authorities’ attention for threatening behavior and been the subject of tipoffs, but wasn’t known to have committed any violence. The interior minister of Saxony-Anhalt state, Tamara Zieschang, told lawmakers Monday that police had contacted him in September 2023 and again in October this year, but didn’t comment publicly on why, German news agency dpa reported.

“The Magdeburg perpetrator had repeatedly attracted attention by threatening crimes. There were also warnings about him but, according to what is known so far, his political statements were so confused that none of the security authorities’ patterns fitted him,” German Justice Minister Volker Wissing was quoted as telling the Funke newspaper group.

He said that Germany may have to “draw consequences for our security architecture” and that a serious debate about that will be needed, “but it’s still too early for that” as facts and questions remain open.

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck voiced fears that the attack will fuel online misinformation before a national election expected in late February. He urged people not to “be infected by hatred.”

“There is still a lot we don’t know and a lot is unexplained, including the exact motive,” Habeck said in a video posted Sunday. “All the same, I fear that the distrust that was immediately propagated on the net against Muslims, foreigners and people with a history of immigration will entrench itself deeper in society.”

At a gathering organized by the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party outside Magdeburg’s cathedral Monday, co-leader Alice Weidel described the attack as “an act of an Islamist full of hatred for what constitutes human cohesion … for us Germans, for us Christians.”