German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said on Monday that there are indications that The man who drove his car into a crowd at Christmas markets in Magdeburg, Germany more than a week ago is mentally ill. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
According to Faeser, the investigators still they found no motive for the attack. However, the minister told journalists that “there are striking signs of a sick psyche”. She added that it is necessary to learn how to track potential “offenders who are mentally disturbed and… driven by delusional conspiracy theories”. “Such attackers do not fit any risk profile,” said the minister, warning that security services will need different indicators and action plans, to be able to cope with such attackers.
Faeser spoke about the mental health of the attacker after answering questions from the parliamentary committee investigating the background of the December 20 attack behind closed doors on Monday. The attack claimed five lives and injured more than 230.
Immediately after the attack, the police arrested the perpetrator, who he is 50-year-old Talib al-Abd al-Muhsin from Saudi Arabia, a psychiatrist by profession. He has been living in Germany since 2006 and in 2016 he received the status a political refugee. He posted on social networks extremist attitudes and Saudi Arabia claims to have repeatedly warned German authorities against him.
The interior minister said that the attacker had published over the years “tens of thousands of tweets”, which need to be explored. “That explains why everything is not on the table yet… there needs to be a thorough clarification of who knew about which tracks and what was handed over when.” Faeser added.
