Dramatic footage captured the moment German police arrested an anti-Islam activist who allegedly plowed his car through a packed Christmas market Friday night, killing 5 and injuring more than 200 others.
One officer was seen aiming his gun at the suspect — identified as a Saudi doctor named Taleb al-Abdulmohsen – and shouting commands as the unarmed driver crouched behind his wrecked BMW amid the carnage in Magdeburg.
The two exchanged words before al-Abdulmohsen laid face down on the street, putting his hands behind his back, according to the 50-second clip obtained by the AP.
The video was captured at an intersection from inside a car just inches away from the damaged vehicle that al-Abdulmohsen is suspected of driving through the Christmas market blocks away.
One bystander helped the lone officer when he flagged down a pair of emergency vehicles racing down the street.
Officers jumped out of the van and hopped a railing dividing the road lanes as a dozen other cops rushed the scene to detain the suspected attacker.
Al-Abdulmohsen – identified from a report by The Guardian – had fled to Germany as a Saudi Arabian refugee in 2006 and gained official refugee status in 2016.
The 50-year-old left his home country due to its Islamic government and settled in Bernburg, roughly 28 miles southeast of Magdeburg.
He has worked in the German city as a doctor and psychotherapist since receiving his permanent status, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the attacker after he posted extremist views on his personal X account that threatened peace and security, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing sources.
Al-Abdulmohsen’s attack began at around 7:04 p.m. when he drove the car between the gap of two safety bollards and raced down one of the lanes of the packed market.
Surveillance footage of the attack captured the car speeding through the alley, leaving behind a trail of devastation as injured victims laid on the ground with others panicking and running off as others stayed behind and tended to the hurt.
An adult and toddler were among the known killed, but officials couldn’t rule out the possibility of more deaths.
Forty-one people were critically injured, 86 were receiving hospital treatment for serious injuries and another 78 sustained minor injuries.
Horrified witnesses tragically recalled the moment al-Abdulmohsen allegedly crashed his vehicle into the crowd of festive marketgoers.
“There was a dead man lying next to me the whole time. I had a man in my arms who had an open fracture and his foot was hanging to the side,” one woman recalled to German Newspaper Bild.
The shopper, who was not identified, says she also watched a child be revived.
One woman, identified only as 32-year-old Nadine, was arm in arm with her boyfriend when the deadly attack happened, sweeping her partner away from her.
“He was hit and pulled away from my side. It was terrible,” Nadine told the outlet, adding her boyfriend suffered injuries to his legs and head.
Another witness said the streets around the market were flooded with first responders as medics, police and firefighters rushed into the scene to help the victims.
“This was a real chaotic situation. We saw blood on the floor, we saw people sitting beside each other and having golden and silver foils around them. And we saw many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries,” MDR reporter Lars Frohmüller told the BBC.
“It’s a big shock. It’s a big shock for every people here in Magdeburg and for every person in Saxony-Anhalt,” he added.
No motive or charges were revealed Saturday morning.
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,” Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, said. “Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many.”
With Post wires.
