Europe

Suspect in Germany’s Christmas market attack declared 'no concrete threat' in risk assessment: Report

Saudi woman's warning about Magdeburg attack suspect misrouted to US

Erbil Basay  | 22.12.2024 - Update : 22.12.2024
Suspect in Germany’s Christmas market attack declared 'no concrete threat' in risk assessment: Report Security tightened around Magdeburg Christmas market after car-ramming attack

​​​​​BERLIN

The suspect in the vehicular attack on a Christmas market reportedly underwent a "risk assessment" in Germany last year, media reports said Saturday.

The Welt newspaper, citing security sources, said the Saxony-Anhalt State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) conducted a joint risk evaluation on Taleb al-Abdulmohsen.

The assessment concluded that he posed “no concrete threat” at that time.

Additionally, the Saxony-Anhalt Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which also participated in the evaluation, chose not to open an investigation into al-Abdulmohsen.

A report by Welt am Sonntag revealed that a woman residing in Saudi Arabia had previously sent an urgent email to Berlin police, providing al-Abdulmohsen’s name and date of birth.

"There’s a man saying he will randomly kill German citizens. Please do something and catch him as soon as possible," she warned in English. The attack Friday in Magdeburg left five dead, including a 9-year-old, and injured more than 200.

The email, however, was mistakenly sent to a police station in Berlin, New Jersey in the US, rather than to authorities in Berlin, Germany.

The report noted that it remains unclear how the email was handled by the US station.

The same individual is also said to have posted warnings on X, tagging Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) about al-Abdulmohsen.

BAMF reportedly did not comment on the message’s contents but advised the sender to inform police.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi in Istanbul




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