Berlin Pride Attack Suspect Shot Dead by Police After Minivan Ramming Leaves 1 Killed, 29 Injured

BERLIN, July 26 (Reuters) - A known Islamist suspected of driving a minivan into a crowd near a major LGBTQ Pride gathering in Berlin was shot dead by law enforcement officers in the city's Spandau district, police said on Sunday. The ramming attack happened in the Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate at about 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Saturday, not far from one of Europe's biggest annual LGBTQ celebrations, Christopher Street Day. One person was killed and 29 were injured, authorities said.

"Around 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), the suspect involved in yesterday's attack in Tiergarten was located at an allotment garden complex in Spandau," Berlin police wrote on X.  "According to initial findings, he ran towards officers while armed with a bladed weapon; police... subsequently opened fire. Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene."

A federal prosecutors spokesperson confirmed one person had been shot and declared dead. Berlin police had identified the suspect as Abdul B, 21, and published his picture, asking the public for information on his whereabouts. The suspect had "attracted attention in the past through a high number of criminal offences, through radicalisation, through membership of the Islamist scene,"Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said earlier, adding that he was a German citizen of Lebanese heritage, born in Germany in 2005.

It was the latest in a series of vehicle attacks on crowds in Germany in recent years that have intensified debate around security and immigration amid a surge in support for the far-right. Ahead of a memorial service at St Mary's Church in Berlin, centre-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Germans to protect liberal values.

"We will defend the freedom, openness, and liberal spirit of our lives and our society with everything we can do," he said.