German Chancellor pledges punishment for perpetrators of car attack in Berlin.
A vehicle drove into Tiergarten Park and struck several people. A Berlin fire department spokesperson confirmed that one person died and 16 others were injured.
According to AFP on July 26, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to appropriately punish those responsible following a car attack in Berlin on July 26. The vehicle plowed into a crowd in a suburb celebrating Gay Pride, killing at least one person and injuring 16 others.
The attack forced organizers to cut short one of Europe's biggest Pride events. This occurred against the backdrop of Germany remaining on high alert following a series of violent vehicle and knife attacks that resulted in casualties in recent years.
In a statement early Sunday morning, July 26, Chancellor Merz said that he and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt were continuously receiving updates on the investigation into this atrocity. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner also emphasized in a post on the X platform that a gathering for a peaceful Berlin had been attacked in the most brutal way.
Police officer Florian Nath stated in a short video posted on the Berlin police's X account that they were conducting a thorough search for suspects. However, police spokesman Alexander Klute later shared that, at this time, investigators did not have any information regarding the motive, identity of the perpetrator, or details of a similar nature.
Earlier, on July 25th, hundreds of thousands of people participated in an event called Christopher Street Day in Germany, one of Europe's largest Pride events. The parade ended right next to the Brandenburg Gate, where concerts had been taking place since July 24th.
In recent years, Germany has witnessed numerous violent attacks in public spaces, posing a significant challenge to national security policy. Notably, the stabbing in February 2025 at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, not far from the scene of the recent Berlin car attack, is a prime example. A Syrian man named Wassim Al M. was sentenced to 13 years in prison in March for this attack.
Last month, Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, a 51-year-old Saudi Arabian psychiatrist, was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering six people and injuring more than 300 others. He drove a rented SUV through a crowded Christmas market in the eastern city of Magedburg in 2024.
The deadliest attack in recent years was when a truck plowed through a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016, claiming the lives of 12 people. The latest incident at Tiergarten Park has once again raised deep concerns about safety at large-scale public events nationwide.
