Attack to Christmas market: Colleagues of Magdeburg offenders warned employer

The employer of the Magdeburg perpetrator received indications weeks before the attack that colleagues are worried about the constitution of Taleb A. The health company Salus confirmed on request that there was a corresponding email from colleagues to superiors in August 2024. As the MDR reported, a statement by Taleb A. was reproduced. The doctor is said to have said in a conversation in the office room that he was in a war whose outcome will either be “dying or killing”.

Taleb A. has worked as a ward doctor in the enforcement enforcement in Bernburg (Salzlandkreis) since 2020. His area of ​​responsibility included the psychiatric care of criminals at three stations. Shortly before Christmas, the man from Saudi Arabia killed six people by car at the Christmas market in Magdeburg and injured almost 300.

In the email, the colleagues from Taleb A. suggested that the man had to be offered help. Taleb A. was on sick leave on the day of the email entrance at the medical director, reported the MDR. A few days later, there was a conversation with Taleb A., in which, according to the Salus, there was no signs of self-threat or external risk.

The police were also at work

A Salus spokeswoman told the dpa that the chairman of the supervisory board had become known to the chairman of the supervisory board in talks with employees on February 4th. The Supervisory Board should deal with the matter on February 20.

Before the attack, the Taleb A. police visited A. on October 4, 2024 because of a threat. With the speech, the police want to signal that they have a potential criminals in view and asks him to refrain from doing certain behavior.

Despite the fact that Taleb A. was responsible for the psychiatric care of patients and the risk addressing at work, there was no exchange between his employer, the Salus, and the police. “The police did not share the reason for the visiting of the Taleb A. employee,” said a Salus spokeswoman in January.