A driver drove into a crowd at a shopping mall in Germany, killing 2 – National
A driver plowed into a busy shopping area in the center of the German city of Leipzig on Monday afternoon, leaving two people dead, authorities said.
Three other people were seriously injured in what officials believe was a deliberate coup, Mayor Burkhard Jung said.
He described it as “a terrible tragedy.” An undisclosed number of people suffered minor injuries.
The driver, 33, a German citizen, was trapped in the car. Police say he is a citizen of German origin in the Leipzig area.
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Prosecutors say he is being investigated for murder and attempted murder. There is no immediate word on a possible motive.
Saxony’s interior minister, Armin Schuster, said investigators believe the man acted alone. He said anger and “mental instability” are often factors in such situations, but added that he would not speculate whether that was the case here.
04 May 2026, Saxony, Leipzig: Emergency services stand at the entrance to Grimmaische Straße. A car hit several people in Leipzig. Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa.
Jan Woitas/photo alliance via Getty Images
Police Chief René Demmler said the man drove from Augustusplatz, the main square, near Grimmaische Strasse and entered a shopping mall with pedestrians. He emphasized that there is no more danger.
The driver was arrested in the car and did not resist arrest, Demmler said.
Saxony regional manager Michael Kretschmer expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
“An act like this makes us speechless – and makes us determined,” he added, according to German news agency dpa. “We will do everything in our power to resolve this case quickly and completely.”
Photos from the scene show a car with a frontal dent and a smashed front window after the incident, which happened at 5pm.
Leipzig is located southwest of Berlin and has over 630,000 inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities in eastern Germany.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
