(Bloomberg) -- A German judge ordered pre-trial detention for the man suspected of driving a car into a German Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg two days ago, killing five people and injuring dozens.
The 50-year old, a doctor of Saudi Arabian origin who works in the region and was identified by police as Taleb A., was taken into custody Friday evening. A judge late Saturday ordered that he be detained on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and assault.
A nine-year old child and four women were killed and more than 200 people were hurt, when a rental car crashed into a crowd. Eleven who were severely injured are no longer in a life-threatening condition, according to a press release by the local hospital. Authorities investigating the motive behind the attack have said they believe the suspect acted alone.
The assault recalled a similar attack in Berlin in 2016, when a driver plowed a truck into a crowd, leaving 13 dead. That sparked an increase in security, including a proliferation of bollards and barriers, to hinder vehicles from entering. A debate has started why those measures failed in Magdeburg and whether authorities neglected warnings about the suspect.
“Authorities will investigate all the background information,” Germany’s Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, told newspaper Bild am Sonntag. “We will also carefully examine which leads there were in the past and how they were followed up on.”
Past social media posts and media appearances depict the suspect as a critic of Islam who had adopted far-right views, according to several media reports on Saturday. He openly sympathized with the nationalist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, and criticized Germany’s tolerant stance on migration, according to the reports. He also set up a website and offered advice on how to flee Saudi Arabia, especially to women.
A local court in 2013 fined Taleb A. for disturbing the peace, Der Spiegel reported. He sought political asylum in Germany in 2016, claiming his life was in danger if he were forced to return to Saudi Arabia because of his critical views of Islam.
Saudi Arabia previously warned Germany about the suspect and asked for his extradition, but Germany didn’t responded to the request, Stern magazine reported, citing Saudi security officials it didn’t identify.
A parliamentary committee is expected to convene on Dec. 30 to discuss the circumstances of the attack, daily Bild reported, citing people it didn’t identify.
(Updates to with committee meeting in last paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the description of the legal steps taken Saturday in headline and first two paragraphs.)
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