Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

World

The Latest: German police: Muenster van driver acted alone

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • febf948d-
    Image 1 of 2

  • ef98376f-
    Image 2 of 2

MUENSTER, Germany – The Latest on the van crash in the German city of Muenster (all times local):

11:35 a.m.

The German news agency dpa is quoting police as saying that that the driver who crashed his van into a crowd in the western German city of Muenster had no accomplices.

The 48-year-old German man killed two people and injured 20 others Saturday before shooting himself to death in the van.

Witnesses of Saturday's crash had initially said they'd seen two other perpetrators flee the van after it crashed into a crowd outside the city's traditional Kiepenkerl pub in the city's medieval old town.

The driver of the van was not identified by name. Authorities are still clueless about his motives and said they're investigating in all possible directions.

Local media have described the 48-year-old as a psychologically instable man.

___

11 p.m.

German prosecutors said Sunday they still have no indication why a 48-year-old German man drove a van into a crowd of people in the western German city of Muenster, killing two and injuring 20 before shooting himself to death inside the van.

"As of now, we don't have any leads regarding a possible background for the deed," prosecutor Martin Botzenhardt wrote in a joint statement with police. "The investigations are being led under high pressure in all possible directions."

Authorities have identified the two fatalities of Saturday's crash as a 51-year-old woman from Lueneburg County and a 65-year-old man from Broken County. Their names weren't given as is customary in Germany.

Local media have identified the perpetrator as an industrial designer living in Muenster who had been suffering from psychological problems, but police wouldn't confirm those details.

___

9 a.m.

Inside the van in Muenster, police found illegal firecrackers which were disguised as a fake bomb, a fake pistol and the gun that the perpetrator used to kill himself.

Inside the man's apartment, which was nearby the crash scene and raided late Saturday, police found more firecrackers and a "no longer usable AK-47 machine gun."

Police said some of the 20 injured persons were still in life-threatening condition, but did not release further details on their identities.

The local daily Muenstersche Zeitung reported that the perpetrator had vaguely announced his suicide plans a week ago in an email to friends and that he was known to the authorities for previous violence and drug violations, but police wouldn't confirm any of those details.

The 48-year-old had driven his van into a crowd Saturday afternoon in the historical city center of Muenster. The city was buzzing on one of the first warm spring days of the year and people were sitting outside the Kiepenkerl when he drove into the bar's tables with such a vengeance that the vehicle only came to a stop when it hit the wall of the pub. Police quickly evacuated the area and ambulances, firefighters and helicopters rushed to the scene to aid those who were injured.

___

Grieshaber reported from Berlin.