Germany van attacker had ties to far-right: Reports

BERLIN

The man who drove his van into a crowd in western Germany on Saturday was a German citizen with psychological problems and with ties to far-right groups, local media reported on Sunday.

German public television ZDF said police identified the attacker as 49-year-old Jens R., who shot himself dead after the crash.

The attacker had ties to far-right groups, but whether it played a role in the attack was unclear, ZDF reported, citing unnamed security sources.

Two people were killed and more than 20 others injured on Saturday after the attacker rammed his van into people sitting outside a restaurant in the northern German city of Munster.

Police said they have found a deactivated Kalashnikov assault rifle and party firecrackers at the house of the attacker in Munster.

But authorities could not yet determine the exact motive for the attack.

“So far, we have not found any evidence of political motivation behind this attack,” chief prosecutor Elke Adomeit told reporters on Sunday.

Soon after the violent attack, Germany’s far-right politicians blamed it on refugees, and shared anti-immigrant and Islamophobic messages on social media.