Violent act in Magdeburg: perpetrator confused and radical – efforts to clarify the attack

After the deadly attack in Magdeburg, the authorities are continuing to seek clarification. As the German Press Agency learned from security circles, there are increasing indications that the perpetrator Taleb A was mentally ill. Recently, he had spoken out in increasingly confused and radical ways on social media. In a recent interview, the 50-year-old revealed himself to be a fan of X owner Elon Musk and the AfD, which pursues the same goals as him – but described himself as politically left-wing.

The decision that the proceedings will initially continue in Saxony-Anhalt also supports this assessment. The Federal Prosecutor General refused to take over the proceedings, said Justice Minister Franziska Weidinger (CDU). Instead, the Naumburg Public Prosecutor’s Office has now taken over. She speaks of a shooting spree, but the investigators also believe the term attack is accurate. The Federal Prosecutor General is responsible for proceedings in the area of ​​state security, i.e. politically motivated crime.

Taleb A. drove a car through the Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday evening, killing five people and injuring more than 200. The doctor from Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, comes from Saudi Arabia, has lived in Germany since 2006 and received asylum in 2016 as a politically persecuted person. He has been noticed in various places over the past few years. He is in custody.

Number of injured increased

According to information from the public prosecutor’s office, the number of injured has now increased. It is now up to 235, said a spokesman in Magdeburg. People still reported to the university clinic and doctors. However, it cannot be ruled out that there were double counts. So far it was assumed that 200 were injured. The death toll remains at five, it said. A nine-year-old boy and four women between the ages of 45 and 75 were killed in the attack. At a special appointment at the Magdeburg University Hospital on Monday, many people spontaneously donated blood.

Taleb A. had been known to the responsible federal authorities since the beginning of 2015 at the latest. As the Ministry of the Interior in Schwerin announced upon request, representatives of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the Joint Counter Terrorism Center run by the federal and state governments informed the Federal Criminal Police Office on February 6, 2015 about the man from Saudi Arabia’s possible intentions to carry out an attack.

The reason for the report was his threats against the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Medical Association in April 2013 and a year later against a local authority in Stralsund to carry out actions that would attract international attention.

According to Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD), the now 50-year-old lived in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from 2011 to the beginning of 2016 and completed parts of his specialist training in Stralsund. There was a dispute with the State Medical Association about the recognition of examination results. He tried to use threats to the social authorities in Stralsund to obtain help with living expenses.

Not classified as a threat after receiving threats

According to Pegel, the Rostock district court had sentenced Taleb A. to a fine because of the threats against the medical association. However, the previous investigations did not reveal any evidence of real preparations for the attack and did not reveal any Islamist connections. After the incident in Stralsund, the man was informed of the consequences by the police as part of a so-called threat speech. He was told that they would have a much closer look at him. However, the man was not classified as a threat, said Pegel.

By addressing a threat, the police want to signal that they are keeping an eye on a potential criminal and are asking them to refrain from certain behavior.

The police were still in contact with the man in the months before the crime, this time in Saxony-Anhalt. Saxony-Anhalt’s Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang said in September 2023 and October 2024 that those at risk were threatened in the Council of Elders in Magdeburg, without giving details.

The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, said on ZDF that the man had an Islamophobic attitude and that he was also involved with right-wing extremist platforms. However, it is not yet possible to conclusively say that the act was politically motivated.

The federal government’s anti-racism commissioner, Reem Alabali-Radovan, warned against political exploitation of the attack. “Unfortunately, this act is now being used as an outlet to allow racism to run its course,” she explained in Berlin. Since the weekend, advice centers in Magdeburg and the surrounding area have reported an increasingly hostile atmosphere and violent attacks against migrants and Muslims.

Next Monday, the Bundestag Interior Committee and the Parliamentary Control Committee for the Intelligence Services want to meet for special meetings in Berlin. The FDP domestic politician Konstantin Kuhle believes that the authorities are partly overwhelmed. The grids there fit perpetrators who have certain Islamist, right-wing extremist or left-wing extremist motives, he said on Deutschlandfunk.

But there is a “powerlessness” in how to deal with people who have expressed threats of violence in a confused manner for years and who suffer from paranoia and have psychological problems. Their number is “quite large,” says Kuhle. If there are so many different responsibilities among the authorities, such perpetrators fall through the net.

The acting Federal Minister of Justice Volker Wissing (non-party) made a similar statement and pointed out unusual features of the later perpetrator. “According to what is known so far, his political statements were so confused that no security authority scheme fit him,” Wissing told the newspapers of the Funke media group.

“I think it is possible that we will have to draw conclusions from this for our security architecture. And I think it is necessary that we have a serious debate about this,” said Wissing. But there are still many questions open. In Flensburg, Green Chancellor candidate Robert Habeck expressed the hope that the attack would not become an issue for the federal election campaign.