Berlin pride attacker was filmed leaving home an hour before the attack, surveillance was scaled back days earlier

The attack and its toll

Abdul Ballout drove a white Citroën van into a crowd at the Berlin Pride parade on Saturday evening. A 65-year-old Polish woman was killed and 29 other people were injured. Authorities are treating the incident as an Islamist terrorist act. Ballout also used a machete during the attack, according to one report. After a manhunt, police shot him dead on Sunday in the Spandau district of Berlin.

Surveillance before the attack

Investigations by Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, and WDR revealed that Berlin's State Criminal Police Office (LKA) had installed a hidden camera aimed at the entrance of Ballout's building. The camera recorded him leaving at 20:58 on Saturday, about an hour before the attack. His phone and internet communications were also being intercepted. The surveillance operation began after his conditional release from pre-trial detention in mid-May.

Ballout, a 21-year-old German of Lebanese descent, had been sentenced in May to a suspended prison term of one year and ten months for preparing a "serious, state-endangering act of violence." He was released after six months in pre-trial custody (plus three months in a Lebanese prison) on the condition that he attend a deradicalisation programme.

Surveillance scaled back despite risk assessment

According to the media reports, the surveillance level was reduced ten days after Ballout's release because officers saw no indications he was planning an attack. The decision was also influenced by limited police resources. Shortly afterward, the anti-terrorism body GTAZ assessed Ballout as falling into the "red" category, indicating a high risk that he would commit an attack. Because the surveilling officers had reached a different conclusion, no additional measures were taken.

No 'action-oriented attitude' was evident from his behaviour.

Camera footage was typically reviewed only every 24 hours. It is unclear whether officers saw Ballout leave on Saturday evening in real time or only later. In early July, the camera recorded him leaving with a suspicious object in his waistband. A search of his apartment on 5 July found an imitation weapon.

Political reaction

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called it "unacceptable" that a court had granted Ballout conditional release and applied juvenile criminal law. Speaking to ZDF, he said the evaluation would show which aspects of the surveillance "went well, or perhaps not entirely well."

If potential terrorists are present, if we monitor them but still cannot guarantee absolute security, everything must be done to increase security.

Dobrindt argued that new political decisions are needed after each attack because "new findings come to light." He said the fears and wishes of many people for more security are "not unfounded."

The attacker's background

Ballout had attempted to travel to Syria to join Islamic State. He was arrested in Lebanon in July 2025 and sentenced by a military court to three months in prison for incitement, among other charges. Der Spiegel spoke to his father, who described his son as "loving and generous" but said he had become increasingly radical in recent years. "He must have been brainwashed," the father said.

German media also raised questions about the rental van used in the attack. The vehicle was registered to a company that says it does not own such vans. The Berliner Morgenpost reported that the van had been resold but still carried the company's name.