DailyMail/ This is the moment Berlin police arrested a 29-year-old German-Armenian man after he ploughed his car into crowds of shoppers early today, leaving at least one dead and 30 injured.
Footage shows police leading the handcuffed man – named locally as Gor H. due to Germany privacy laws – to a black BMW and shutting him inside. Just a short distance away, the man’s own car sits buried in the front window of a perfume shop as badly wounded people he just ran over lie on the pavement.
Witnesses say the man drove ‘very fast’ towards the pavement on Tauentzienstrausse – a street lined with shops and cafes – around 10.30am Wednesday before smashing into crowds of shoppers without braking. He then rejoined the road and drove another 600ft – past Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church – before hitting the shop.
The man tried to flee the scene, witnesses added, but was held by two passersby until police arrived and arrested him. Officers have confirmed the arrest but refused to say whether they believe the crash was deliberate.
Officers have since found a ‘confession note’ inside the vehicle, Bild reported, without detailing what the note says. A source also told the paper the man is known to police for ‘property crimes’.
A 51-year-old female teacher was killed, Welt reported, with her students – believed to be teenagers – among those hurt. A second teacher with the same class is said to have been seriously hurt. A pregnant woman also suffered a broken hip. Five people have life-threatening injuries while three are in serious condition, fire crews said.
The crash happened just yards from where an Islamist extremist killed 12 people at a Christmas market in 2016 by ramming them with a stolen van.
