A man suspected of ploughing a car into a crowd in the eastern German city of Leipzig, killing two people, recently underwent treatment in a psychiatric hospital, the authorities said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The German national allegedly drove the vehicle Monday at high speed down a main street in the historic centre of the eastern city, leaving two people dead and many others wounded.<\/p>\n
Germany has been shaken by a series of car-ramming attacks in recent years, including one targeting a Christmas market in 2024 in Magdeburg, and others in Berlin and Munich.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old suspect in the Leipzig incident was arrested at the scene and officials have said they do not believe he had a political or religious motive.<\/p>\n
The regional health ministry said the alleged perpetrator stayed for a short period at a specialist mental-health hospital, “on a voluntary basis”, and was discharged at the end of April.<\/p>\n
“During his stay at the clinic, there was no danger to himself or others,” the ministry said in a statement to AFP.<\/p>\n
“There were therefore no medical grounds to prevent the patient, who was in the clinic of his own free will, from leaving the clinic or to detain him there against his will.”<\/p>\n
Authorities declined to give further details about his condition, citing patient confidentiality.<\/p>\n
A 63-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man, both German citizens, were killed in the car-ramming.<\/p>\n
The authorities have said many others were injured, without giving a precise figure.<\/p>\n
The suspect is being investigated on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, according to the police, who believe he acted alone.<\/p>\n
– ‘Deeply affected’ –<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the street where the deadly incident happened was still cordoned off as police searched the area.<\/p>\n
At a church in the grounds of a nearby university, Heidi Rheinsdorf said she had travelled to Leipzig to show support to the local community.<\/p>\n
Wiping back tears, the 32-year-old told AFP she was “shocked” when she heard about the car-ramming, adding: “I just don’t understand why (the alleged perpetrator) did it.<\/p>\n
“I just feel so sorry for the people.”<\/p>\n
University student Dalyan Unland, 20, said he was “deeply affected by the fact that people died… in a place where I walk every day”.<\/p>\n
Lynn Sue Leiste had to muster all her courage to come and lay two white roses and a candle at a makeshift memorial at the church.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old said she had “extremely worried” by the car-ramming, as her sister was in the street at the time.<\/p>\n
The perpetrator of the rampage “must be locked up forever”, she said, adding that “security measures really could have been strengthened”.<\/p>\n
Most of the deadly car rampages Germany has seen in recent years were carried out by people who were found to have psychological problems.<\/p>\n
The deadliest involved a Tunisian man with jihadist motives who ploughed a stolen truck through a Christmas market in Berlin in 2016, claiming 13 lives.<\/p>\n
In 2024, a Christmas market in Magdeburg was targeted by a Saudi man, who drove a car into the crowd, killing six people and injuring more than 300.<\/p>\n
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