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GERMAN authorities have identified a suspected perpetrator in the apparent vehicle attack on Berlin's Christopher Street Day celebrations, with police saying the individual is known as a member of the city's Islamist scene but has not yet been detained.
Berlin police spokesman said on Sunday that measures were being taken against the suspect, who remained at large as investigations continued.
"We have now identified a suspected perpetrator. Measures against this suspected perpetrator, who has not yet been arrested, are underway. However, this suspected perpetrator is known to the police as a member of the Islamist scene here in Berlin," Reuters cited the spokesman saying.
The development came after a car struck pedestrians near the Pride celebrations in Tiergarten park on Saturday night, killing at least one person and injuring 16 others.
Police said the vehicle entered the park shortly before 10pm local time and hit several people before the occupants fled.
"A vehicle entered the Tiergarten park and hit several people and injured them," police said in a social media post, adding that officers were searching for those involved.
Berlin Fire Department spokesman Dominik Pretz confirmed that one person had died while 16 others sustained injuries.
Police later found the suspected vehicle abandoned in Tiergarten park as they continued efforts to identify and apprehend those responsible.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged that the incident would be fully investigated and those responsible would face justice.
He said he and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt would "push to make sure this horrific act is fully investigated and punished".
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner condemned the incident, saying a peaceful gathering celebrating tolerance had been violently attacked.
"A gathering for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin has been most brutally attacked," he said in a post on X.
Following the incident, organisers brought the Christopher Street Day celebrations to an early end, with police urging participants to leave the area.
"Go home, please," officers told the crowd.
An eyewitness near the main Pride stage at Brandenburg Gate said attendees complied with the instruction and began leaving shortly after 11pm, although the programme had been scheduled to continue until midnight.
An AFP journalist at the scene reported seeing at least 10 emergency service vehicles and a medical tent set up on the road as police secured the area.
Earlier on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people had taken part in the annual Christopher Street Day march, which ended near the Brandenburg Gate, where concerts had been held since July 24.
The incident adds to growing security concerns in Germany following a series of deadly attacks involving vehicles and knives in recent years.
Among the most prominent cases was the 2024 Christmas market vehicle attack in Magdeburg, where six people were killed and more than 300 injured. The perpetrator, a Saudi psychiatrist, was sentenced to life imprisonment in June.
Germany's deadliest vehicle attack in recent years remains the December 2016 truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market, which killed 12 people. - July 26, 2026
