- Driver ploughed through crowds outside the popular Grosser Kiepenkerl bar in Münster, west Germany
- He shot himself dead inside the vehicle, leaving two others dead and 20 injured in the attack at 3.27pm
- Reports claim he was Jens R., 48, a German national with psychological problems and no terror links
- Police in the area say they are not looking for any more suspects and currently searching perpetrator’s flat
- Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was ‘deeply shaken’ by the incident that has cordoned off city’s old town
The 48-year-old van driver who mowed down people outside a bar in Germany before shooting himself dead was well known to police, authorities said.
Terrified diners watched as the driver, named locally as Jens R, 48, shot himself with the cartridge gun later found by police inside the vehicle after the attack at 3.27pm local time.
Mourners laid flowers on Sunday morning at the scene of Saturday’s crash outside the popular Grosser Kiepenkerl bar in the university city of Münster, 300 miles west of Berlin, that left two people dead and dozens more injured.
A 51-year-old woman from the county of Lueneburg and a 65-year-old man from the county of Broken died in the attack. Their names weren’t given as is customary in Germany.
Authorities have not identified the injured in the crash Saturday in the western German city, but a German security official says people from The Netherlands are among them.
However, authorities revealed the 48-year-man was well known to police and there had been three previous court procedures in the western city of Muenster and one in nearby Arnsberg in 2015 and 2016 involving the van driver.
Prosecutor Elke Adomeit on Sunday said the perpetrator, whose name was not released, had run-ins with the law regarding threats, property damage, fraud and a hit-and-run, but that all charges were dismissed.
Adomeit also said authorities ‘have no indications that there is a political background’ to Saturday’s deadly crash outside the Kiepenkerl bar in the city’s old town.
Muenster police president Hajo Kuhlisch said the man had four apartments and several cars, all of which were searched by police.
A man brings flowers to the scene where a vehicle crashed into a crowd in Munster, Germany, on Saturday, killing two people and injuring dozens
A woman lays down flowers in front of the restaurant Kiepenkerl in Muenster, western Germany, a day after a van crashed into people drinking outside the popular bar
People grieve after laying down flowers in front of a fountain with the Kiepenkerl, a traditional merchant figure from the Muensterland, in front of the restaurant Kiepenkerl in Muenster
A man brings flowers to the place in Muenster, Germany, Sunday, where a vehicle crashed into a crowd, killing two people and injuring 20 others before the driver of the vehicle shot and killed himself inside it.
Inside the van in Munster, police found illegal firecrackers which were disguised as a fake bomb, a fake pistol and the gun that the perpetrator used to kill himself.
Inside the man’s apartment, which was nearby the crash scene and raided late Saturday, police found more firecrackers and a ‘no longer usable AK-47 machine gun.’
The man is believed to be a German national with ‘psychological problems’ and no links to any terrorist organisations. Local reports claim he had been in contact with far-right groups, but was not an extremist himself.
Bild reports that detectives are looking into whether the attack was a case of ‘extended suicide’ similar to the case of Andreas Lubitz, who deliberately crashed a Germanwings flight in 2015, killing all 144 passengers and crew on board. The man had recently attempted suicide, ZDF reports.
The local daily Muenstersche Zeitung reported that the perpetrator had vaguely announced his suicide plans a week ago in an email to friends and that he was known to the authorities for previous violence and drug violations, but police wouldn’t confirm any of those details.
Earlier, prosecutors say they still have no indication why the man drove a van into a crowd of people.
In a joint statement with police, prosecutor Martin Botzenhardt wrote Sunday that ‘as of now, we don’t have any leads regarding a possible background for the deed.’
He had a dozen firecrackers in his vehicle and more in his flat, leading police to believe that they were explosives which turned out to be a false alarm, as they were in fact normal celebration firecrackers.
Officers searching his grey Volkswagen van suspected it was booby-trapped after reportedly finding a pistol connected to a wire hidden underneath the inside carpeting.
Police say the driver had no accomplices, the German news agency dpa reported, after witnesses had initially said they’d seen two other perpetrators flee the van after it crashed into a crowd outside the city’s traditional Kiepenkerl pub in the city’s medieval old town.
A body is loaded into a vehicle in front of a restaurant in Münster, Germany, on Sunday, after a vehicle crashed into a crowd
German police have reportedly found a Kalashnikov at the home of the man who ploughed a minibus (pictured) into a crowd of people and shot himself dead, killing two people and injuring 20 others in Münste
Night-time images show the dark grey Volkswagen van that ploughed into crowds of people in Münster, killing two and injuring dozens.
Officers searching the perpetrator’s van (pictured) suspected it was booby-trapped after reportedly finding a pistol connected to a wire leading underneath the van’s floor carpeting
On Sunday, German authorities say some of the 20 people injured when a van crashed into people outside of a pub in Muenster are still in a life-threatening condition.
Armin Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Muenster is located, visited the crash scene on Sunday.
He said: ‘This was a horrible and sad day for the people of Muenster, all of Germany … and also the people of The Netherlands, who were sitting here and became victims.’
Laschet didn’t give any further details on how many Dutch were injured when a 48-year-old German crashed his van into a crowd in the city’s downtown area.
Dramatic pictures showed the area of Münster’s old town strewn with broken tables and chairs, while onlookers ran for their lives.
The city’s old town has been cordoned off while detectives investigate reports that two others escaped from the vehicle after the crash.
Police have reportedly found a Kalashnikov at the home of the man who ploughed a minibus into a crowd of people and shot himself dead (forensic investigators pictured at scene), killing two people and injuring 20 others in Münster
Forensic investigators are pictured scouring the scene of today’s deadly vehicle attack in the university town of Münster
German forensic experts (pictured) are scouring the scene where a man ploughed a minibus into a crowd of people and shot himself dead, killing two people and injuring 20 others in Münster, Germany
Officers in protective clothing are pictured at the scene where a man ploughed into crowds with a van in Münster, Germany
Armed officers are pictured patrolling the police cordon in Münster’s old town where two people were killed and 20 injured
Terrified diners watched as the driver shot and killed himself inside the vehicle at 3.27pm local time. Officers are still guarding the scene
Emergency vehicles are pictured after night fall in Münster with the scene of the attack still cordoned off
Police and fire teams worked into the night after the deadly vehicle attack at 3.27pm on Saturday in Münster
A fire engine is seen near the Grosser Kiepenkerl bar in Münster’s old town where a van killed two people and injured 20
Broadcaster ZDF said the driver had contact with far-right extremists, but there was no evidence thus far that he was a far-right extremist himself. Pictured: investigators work into the night to uncover more about the deadly attack
Candles are pictured at the scene of the van attack that killed two and injured 20 in the old town of Münster on Saturday
Tributes and candles were laid at the scene of Saturday’s van attack where two people were killed and 20 injured.
