Man who drove a automobile into German market at high-speed, killing two individuals, is jailed for all times and positioned into psychiatric care
A man who killed two and injured dozens by ploughing his car through a busy market in Germany has been jailed for life and ordered into psychiatric care.
Terrified shoppers desperately fled the scene in the Paradeplatz area of downtown Mannheim after two people – a 83-year-old woman and a man aged 54 – were killed when attacker Alexander S. smashed a Ford Fiesta car smashed through a group of people in March.
When a taxi driver blocked the driver’s path, Alexander S. fired a shot into the air from a blank-firing pistol and fled on foot.
When armed officers finally swooped to arrest him, the suspect rammed a blank-firing pistol into his mouth and pulled the trigger, leaving himself with catastrophic self-inflicted injuries.
He was found guilty of two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder.
Prosecutors earlier said Alexander S. had been ‘suffering from a mental illness for many years’ and called for him to be placed in a psychiatric facility.
Investigations had ‘not revealed any evidence of a political motive’, they said.
But they did reveal a chilling note left taped to the dashboard of the car he used in the horrific attack.
CCTV footage captured the car accelerating before ramming into a crowd in Mannheim
Alleged attacker Alexander S. (pictured) smashed a Ford Fiesta car smashed through a group of people on Monday at about 12.15pm
The twisted note he left on the car’s dashboard contained mathematical formulas related to calculating the stopping distance for a car driving at 50kmph (31mph)
It also included a childlike drawing of a bizarre grinning face with its tongue out and, flanked by two hearts.
And another drawing showed a car and a person, with the phrase ‘Dani bremst’ (Dani brakes) written next to it.
The 40-year-old German from Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz, was well known to authorities, yet somehow was still free to turn a happy and bustling carnival into a scene of unimaginable horror.
Even more chilling, officials admitted at the time the lone-wolf perpetrator had a long and documented history of serious psychological issues, raising fresh questions over why nothing was done to monitor him.
Alexander S., who lived alone, had no children, no partner, and was described as increasingly isolated before his disturbing and violent breakdown.
The Mannheim attack was one of three car-rammings that shocked Germany in the space of a few months.
Last December, six people were killed and more than 300 injured in an attack at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, with a Saudi man arrested at the scene.
The twisted note he reportedly left on the car’s dashboard (pictured) contained mathematical formulas related to calculating the stopping distance for a car driving at 50 km per hour
Earlier footage showed captured shoppers making the mad dash down the street to flee the scene
Footage shows dozens of people fleeing a major incident in Mannheim, Germany today
Police investigators check a damaged car at the scene after a vehicle was driven to pedestrians in Mannheim
And in February this year, a man drove a car into a trade union rally in Munich, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother. Police arrested a 24-year-old Afghan suspect.
Germany is still haunted by the memories of the 2016 Berlin Christmas Market massacre when Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri hijacked a lorry and murdered twelve innocent victims.
In response to the Mannheim massacre, police patrols were immediately intensified across the country.
High-visibility officers were also deployed across nearby cities hosting carnival celebrations, and pedestrian zones were placed under heightened surveillance.
In Ulm, police stepped up their presence on the streets and at upcoming Fasnacht events. Police Spokesperson Sven Vrancken said police visibility has been significantly increased to strengthen the public’s ‘sense of security.’
