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A car rammed into a crowd in Leipzig on Monday in a mass attack, killing two people and injuring dozens as emergency teams rushed to the scene, according to the local authorities.
The vehicle tore through pedestrians along a busy shopping street in the city center, triggering a large-scale response. Police quickly detained the driver and confirmed there was no ongoing threat to the public.
Mayor Burkhard Jung confirmed the death toll stood at two, while several injured were taken to hospitals after receiving initial treatment at the scene.
"We still don’t really know the motivation. We don’t know anything about the perpetrator," Jung said.
According to local fire services, at least two people were seriously hurt, and around 20 others sustained lighter injuries.
The suspect, a 33-year-old German national, was arrested shortly after the incident. Police noted that the driver stopped the vehicle on his own before being taken into custody.
While the motive remains unclear, Saxony Interior Minister Armin Schuster stated the incident was not accidental, calling it an "attack" and describing the suspect as a "mass murderer."
Witnesses described the car moving at high speed through the pedestrian zone, striking people along one of Leipzig’s busiest streets lined with shops and historic buildings.
Footage from the scene showed a heavily damaged white vehicle with a shattered windshield, surrounded by emergency responders as police maintained a tight perimeter.
Germany has seen several similar car-ramming incidents in recent years, including attacks in Berlin, Munich and a deadly case targeting a Christmas market in Magdeburg in 2024.
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