Tragedy in Magdeburg: Suspect's troubled past revealed
German journalists have uncovered what the attacker did prior to the incident. It turns out that the day before the attack in Magdeburg, Taleb Abdul Jawad visited his favourite bar.
On Friday evening, a passenger car driven by Taleb Abdul Jawad, a Saudi national who has been living in Germany since 2006, crashed into a crowd of people at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, located in eastern Germany, at high speed. Five people were killed and 200 were injured in the attack.
The dpa agency, citing police sources, reported that the 50-year-old was detained on charges of fivefold murder, multiple attempted murders, and causing numerous bodily injuries.
The motive for the perpetrator's actions might have been dissatisfaction with how refugees from Saudi Arabia are treated in Germany, as stated by the chief prosecutor of Magdeburg, Horst Walter Nopens, on Saturday.
The day before the attack
The day before the attack, Jawad visited a local snack bar where he had been a regular for three years, according to "Bild." "I saw the picture of the killer and was shocked. I thought: I know him. He comes to my bar three or four times a week," says Yaser Al Alo, the owner of the establishment. The attacker drank beers and ate tarte flambée with shrimp.
On surveillance footage, Jawad can be seen entering the bar after 8:00 PM, ordering a beer, and eating the Alsatian tart. "He only said, 'I am an Arab.' He didn't want to talk about his country. He was always here alone and didn't want to have contact with anyone," admits Yaser Al Alo.
