Berlin Pride attack: police hunt 21-year-old Abdul B. after van kills one and injures 16 at Tiergarten

What happened

At around 22:00 on Saturday 25 July, a van drove into the Tiergarten park in central Berlin where crowds had gathered for the Christopher Street Day Pride parade. The vehicle struck multiple people before crashing into a tree. A woman died from her injuries and 16 people were wounded, several of them in critical condition. In a police bulletin issued at 07:05 on Sunday and cited by the BBC, authorities said that "one or more persons then fled the vehicle" and that "several people were injured with knives."

The attack targeted one of Europe's largest LGBTQ+ celebrations, an event that draws hundreds of thousands of participants to the German capital.

The suspect

Police have issued a wanted notice with a mugshot of Abdul B., a 21-year-old described as 1.90 metres tall, of slim build, with black hair. At the time of the attack he was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and white trousers. The alert warns the public not to approach him, saying he may be armed and dangerous. Anyone who spots him is urged to call the emergency number 110 immediately.

Abdul B. has a family in Berlin and was already known to authorities. According to German news agency DPA, he was released from a youth detention centre only in May 2026. The offence for which he served time and the length of his sentence have not been disclosed.

Investigators were led to Abdul B. largely through the van used in the attack. The vehicle was rented in his name, according to Die Welt, though police have not confirmed he was behind the wheel. Il Messaggero reported that the van was privately owned, not rented, and that it was seized at the scene. The discrepancy in vehicle ownership has not yet been resolved by authorities.

The investigation

Berlin police spokesman Florian Nath confirmed the suspect had been linked to Islamist circles in the city. "We have no specific information about his motives, the exact sequence of events, or the role he played," Nath said.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office and the Berlin State Criminal Police Office are investigating the incident as a suspected terrorist attack. Witness accounts conflict on the number of assailants, with some describing one person and others suggesting multiple attackers. Police are also examining whether a bladed weapon was used in addition to the vehicle, though this has not been confirmed.

Officers searched an apartment in the Schöneberg district of Berlin but found it empty. No arrests have been made. The manhunt for Abdul B. and any possible accomplices continues.

Official reaction

Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the violence in a post on X. "What an abominable act in Berlin! Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world were celebrating peacefully on the occasion of Christopher Street Day. They wanted us to treat each other with respect and tolerance. This is an attack on our society," Merz wrote. "We are open and freedom-loving, and we will preserve and defend that. The matter will be investigated and prosecuted with the utmost severity."

The mayor of Berlin described the incident as "an attack on our society that is open to the world."