Berlin Pride attack suspect shot dead after 24-hour manhunt

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 27, 2026 12:47 AM IST

A man suspected of driving a minivan into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival that killed at least one person and injured 29 others was shot dead by police in the city’s Spandau district, German officials said on Sunday.

Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese heritage, was killed following a manhunt launched by Berlin police for nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group, AP reported.

Gegen 18 Uhr konnte der Tatverdächtige des gestrigen Anschlags im Großen Tiergarten in einer Kleingartenanlage in #Spandau lokalisiert werden. Nach bisherigen Erkenntnissen soll er mit einer Stichwaffe auf unsere Einsatzkräfte zugelaufen sein, daraufhin kam es zum polizeilichen… pic.twitter.com/ncslEZom7N

— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) July 26, 2026

Police say suspect charged at officers with knife

Informing about the encounter, Berlin police wrote on X, “Around 6 pm (1600 GMT), the suspect involved in yesterday’s attack in Tiergarten was located at an allotment garden complex in Spandau.”

Police search the area after a deadly incident in which a vehicle crashed into a crowd near Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day Pride parade. (Photo: Reuters)

A federal prosecutor confirmed that one person has been shot and declared dead. Berlin police identified the deceased as Abdul B, 21, and published his picture, asking the public for information on his whereabouts.

“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,” the police said.

Authorities cite alleged Islamist links

Abdul, who was born in Germany in 2005, was suspected of driving the vehicle into a crowd celebrating one of Europe’s largest Pride events on Saturday night. He later stabbed others with a machete, with a German minister describing the act as an “Islamist attack”.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the suspect had “attracted attention in the past through a high number of criminal offences, through radicalisation, through membership of the Islamist scene,” Reuters reported.

Attack renews security debate in Germany

The incident was the latest in a spate of vehicle attacks on crowds in Germany in recent times, which has also triggered discussions around security and immigration.

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, ahead of a memorial service at St Mary’s Church in Berlin, urged German residents to protect liberal values.

“We will defend the freedom, openness, and liberal spirit of our lives and our society with everything we can do,” Merz added.

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