A cab driver of Pakistani origin played an important role in blocking the vehicle that in the southwestern city of Mannheim and killed at least two, the mayor of the city said on Tuesday.
Christian Specht, the mayor, is a politician of the , the party that came out on top of the German election race last month. He praised the cab driver at a service for the victims of the attack earlier this morning.
“He behaved so courageously, drove after the perpetrator and ultimately blocked his vehicle to prevent further damage,” Specht said about the cab driver.
The cab driver had been living in Germany for 15 years and was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. “I was told that he says he acted so courageously as a Muslim and as a citizen,” Specht told reporters.
Suspect moved to police custody after he tried to kill himself
The suspect, a 40-year-old German citizen from the neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate state, was detained shortly after he tried to flee the scene, according to a statement released by the Mannheim public prosecutor’s office.
The suspect left the vehicle, then fled on foot, but was arrested shortly after, the statement said. The man attempted to take his own life by shooting himself in the mouth.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment, and by Tuesday, had been moved to police custody. Officials said the suspect also suffered psychological problems that investigators were looking more closely into.
The suspect was being investigated for two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder, each in conjunction with grievous bodily harm, and 11 counts of bodily harm, according to authorities.
“Items seized from the man, in his vehicle and in his home, such as a gun, written documents and digital data carriers, are currently being forensically examined and analyzed,” authorities said.
Many people in the city’s center following the attack that had no political motive, according to officials.
Edited by: Rana Taha
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