TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images(BERLIN) — German police are trying to verify whether the man detained after a Christmas market attack in Berlin is responsible for ploughing a truck into a crowd of people that killed 12, raising the prospect that other suspects may still be at large.
Officials have labeled the Monday incident a “terror attack.”
The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, had a pending asylum case and first entered Germany Dec. 31, 2015, Germany’s interior minister said Tuesday.
The suspect first came to Berlin in February and was not on any terror watch list, authorities said. He has denied involvement in the attack, according to Berlin police, who also asked the public to remain vigilant.
It is unclear how the attack was planned, or whether the attacker had logistical support from anyone affiliated with terrorist organizations.
The truck involved in the incident was stolen in Poland from a building site, the Berlin police tweeted.
The use of a stolen truck as a weapon bears similarities to the Bastille Day attack in July, where attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed 86 people, including children, by driving a rented semi-trunk into a crowd of revelers in Nice, France.
Bouhlel was a Tunisian born man, living in France. In December, French police detained 11 people suspected of providing logistical support in his attack.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a brief statement Tuesday, saying, “This is a difficult day. I am, like millions of people during these hours, horrified and shocked by what happened at the Breitscheidplatz [public square] in Berlin.”
Flags flew at half-staff across Germany Tuesday as the country mourned the victims. Christmas markets in Berlin closed for the day and the attorney general announced the beginnings of a criminal investigation.
A male passenger in the truck died at the scene, authorities said, and is being counted among the 12 fatalities.
“The man who was found dead in the truck did not control the truck that drove to the Christmas market,” Berlin police said early Tuesday, after earlier tweeting that the man was a Polish citizen.
The truck involved in the incident was stolen in Poland from a building site, the Berlin police tweeted.
White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price described the incident as an apparent “terrorist attack.”
“The United States condemns in the strongest terms what appears to have been a terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, which has killed and wounded dozens. We send our thoughts and prayers to the families and loved ones of those killed, just as we wish a speedy recovery to all of those wounded. We also extend our heartfelt condolences to the people and government of Germany,” the statement reads.
Price added that the United States has offered to aid Germany in the investigation.
“We have been in touch with German officials, and we stand ready to provide assistance as they recover from and investigate this horrific incident. Germany is one of our closest partners and strongest allies, and we stand together with Berlin in the fight against all those who target our way of life and threaten our societies,” he said.
President-elect Donald Trump also released a statement about the incident, calling it “horrifying.”
“Our hearts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims of today’s horrifying terror attack in Berlin. Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday,” Trump said.
Trump went on to appear to tie the incident to ISIS.
“ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners,” he said.
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