Authorities have not yet established the motive for a 29-year-old German-Armenian man who crashed his car into a group of students in Berlin, killing a teacher and leaving another to fight for his life, but said he had no known connection to terrorism. . Investigators, with the help of a translator, were trying to understand the “sometimes confused statements he made” during the interrogation, Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey told RBB inforadio, describing a “dark day in the history of Berlin”. . About 30 people were injured in the crash, including 14 students, seven of whom were seriously injured and rushed to hospital after the car crashed into a sidewalk in Berlin’s busy Charlottenburg shopping district, police said. Families mourned the teacher who was killed while attending school at the end of the quarter in the German capital from the small town of Bad Arolsen in the state of Hesse. The suspect, who naturalized as a German citizen in 2015, was previously known to police in connection with bodily harm and misconduct, said Iris Spranger, Berlin’s interior minister. Police had searched his home. Attorney General Sebastian Buechner told reporters, “as part of the investigation, medication was found and the man, through his lawyers, released his doctors from secrecy; therefore, many suggest paranoid schizophrenia.” The incident took place near the site of a deadly attack in 2016, when a truck crashed into a crowded Christmas market. A witness at the scene said the driver had shown immediate remorse when confronted after the collision. “He was surrounded by five or six men, they did not hold him, but they surrounded him (gestures) so that he could not leave,” said Markus Leppmeier. And he was injured, he had a rupture in his head, a very big bump and he kept saying “sorry, sorry, I did not want it, sorry”. Bad Arolsen residents shed tears over an incident that brought back memories of an attack in the neighboring town of Volkmarsen, when a man crashed his car into a carnival parade in 2020, injuring dozens, including 20 children. “It brings back a lot of photos from Volkmarsen,” said Ellen Schreck, 45, whose son went to the school from which the group was based. He described the situation as “utterly horrible”. “It’s usually a quiet little town; you always think you’re in a safe bubble here. “But that is no longer the case.” People laid flowers and candles at the Kaulbach school, which was closed on Thursday. Parents and a group from the school have traveled to Berlin to help care for the children. “We are all deeply saddened,” said Almut Will-Olivieri, who owns a pizzeria next to the school. “The city is just in a state of shock.” Of the students who had gone to Berlin, 17 returned to Hesse, some with their parents and others with a specially organized bus. Along with the police, a group of mental health workers worked at the school to provide support to the children. “This is a very difficult day for us and we have really heavy hearts,” said State Prime Minister Boris Ryan during a visit to the school. “It will continue to have an effect for a long time to come.” The Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
