A car-ramming incident in the southwestern city of Mannheim on Monday killed two people and injured eleven others. German authorities say the attack was deliberate but not politically or religiously motivated.
Police identified the victims as an 83-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man. The attacker, who is 40 years old and from neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate state, was arrested after a large-scale manhunt in the city center.
According to public prosecutor Romeo Schüssler, there was “concrete evidence” that the suspect suffers from a psychological illness. Police found this information while searching the suspect’s house on Monday.
Mannheim Mayor Christian Specht said the attack was “heinous and inhumane” and expressed sympathy for the victims’ families. Other politicians, including CDU leader Friedrich Merz, also condemned the attack and vowed to work towards making Germany a safe country again.
The incident comes as Germany celebrates “Rose Monday,” a carnival held before Ash Wednesday. However, it has prompted some police forces to take additional measures, with increased presence around carnival events in cities like Ulm.
Germany has been plagued by a series of deadly car ramming attacks in recent months, including one that killed six people at a Christmas market in December and another that injured over 30 in Munich in February.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/03/europe/mannheim-germany-car-ramming-intl