‘No Islamist background’: police suggest German van attacker was driven by mental illness
Far-right opponents of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy had suggested in the immediate aftermath of the attack it might be an Islamist act of terror
“There are strong indications at the moment that this was a lone perpetrator and that there were no links to the terror scene,” federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told reporters at the site of Saturday’s attacks, where local people laid flowers in memory of the victims.
Far-right opponents of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy had suggested in the immediate aftermath of the attack it might be an Islamist act of terror, while some media reported the killer had links to right-wing extremist organisations.
But there are “no indications of a political motive,” said Hajo Kuhlisch, chief of police in the western city where the attack took place.
Rather, he added, “the motive and origins [of the crime] lie within the perpetrator,” a 48-year-old German identified as Jens R. who shot himself dead immediately after the crime.
A source close to the investigation said there was a record of incidents related to the perpetrator’s impaired mental health since 2015, and that he had talked of suicide in late March.