Berlin Pride Attack: Everything We Know So Far

One woman was killed and 29 people were injured in a vehicle and stabbing attack near Berlin Pride. German authorities are investigating the violence as an Islamist terrorist attack, and the suspected attacker was killed during a police operation Sunday. Here is what has been confirmed so far.

A deadly attack near Berlin’s Christopher Street Day celebrations on Saturday, July 25, left one woman dead and 29 other people injured, turning the final hours of one of Europe’s largest Pride events into a major terrorism investigation.

At about 10 p.m. local time, a vehicle struck people in Berlin’s Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate. Investigators say several people were also injured with a stabbing weapon. The attack happened while Berlin Pride’s official closing rally was still underway nearby, with the official CSD program scheduled to continue at the Brandenburg Gate until midnight.

Important information emerged as authorities reconstructed what happened: the attack did not occur on the official Pride parade route or breach the secured CSD event area. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said the violence occurred roughly 400 metres away, in an area where people were still travelling to and from the Pride celebrations.

Here is what authorities had confirmed as of 8:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, July 26.

What happened near Berlin Pride

According to a joint statement from the Berlin Police and General Prosecutor’s Office, several people were struck by a vehicle in the Tiergarten area at approximately 10 p.m. Saturday.

Authorities later identified 21-year-old Abdul B. as the suspected attacker. A subsequent statement from Berlin prosecutors said he allegedly used a rented vehicle to strike multiple people, some of whom initially suffered life-threatening injuries. Several other people were injured with a stabbing weapon.

One woman died from her injuries Saturday night. Her identity had not been publicly released by the publication cutoff.

The initial number of injured people increased as authorities and hospitals accounted for victims. By Sunday afternoon, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said 29 people had been injured, including people who suffered serious injuries. Later Sunday, police said none of the surviving victims remained in a critical, life-threatening condition, according to Tagesschau’s reporting on the investigation.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner also clarified the location of the attack. The secured CSD route itself was not breached, he said. Instead, the violence occurred approximately 400 metres away, where Pride attendees and other pedestrians were still moving through the Tiergarten area.

This was an attack in the immediate vicinity of Berlin Pride and while its closing celebration was still taking place, but it was not a vehicle driving through the official parade route.

German authorities are investigating the attack as Islamist terrorism

By Sunday afternoon, German officials were publicly describing the incident as an Islamist terrorist attack.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the evidence available to investigators indicated Islamist terrorism, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also referred to the violence as a terrorist Islamist attack in an official statement from the German federal government.

Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor took over the investigation Sunday evening, Tagesschau reported. The federal prosecutor handles major national-security cases in Germany, including Islamist terrorism.

The classification is significant, but it does not mean every part of the motive has been established publicly.

As of Sunday night, investigators had not released a complete account of how the attack was planned, whether the suspect acted entirely alone, or whether LGBTQ+ people were specifically selected as targets beyond the clear connection between the location, timing and Berlin Pride celebrations.

Those questions remain part of the investigation.

Who was the Berlin Pride attack suspect

The Berlin General Prosecutor’s Office released an extensive account of Abdul B.’s history with authorities on Sunday.

He was 21 years old, born and raised in Berlin and a German citizen.

Authorities had known him before the attack through both criminal cases and Islamist radicalization.

In February 2022, a Berlin youth court convicted Abdul B. of assault and extortion connected with incidents dating to 2019 and 2020.

More recently, on May 12, 2026, the Tiergarten District Court convicted him of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state and two violations connected with a banned organization. He was sentenced under youth criminal law to one year and 10 months in custody.

The court did not simply give Abdul B. a suspended sentence. Instead, it postponed for six months its decision on whether the youth sentence would ultimately be suspended on probation. The existing detention order was lifted, and he was placed under conditions that included supervision by a probation officer.

Berlin’s General Prosecutor had sought a longer sentence that could not be suspended and wanted the detention order maintained. Prosecutors appealed the ruling, meaning the May conviction was not final.

The same case established that Abdul B. had published banned Islamic State propaganda on Instagram in June 2024.

Prosecutors also said he had previously attempted to reach territory where he intended to join ISIS. After returning to Germany from Lebanon in November 2025, he was arrested at Berlin Brandenburg Airport and remained in pretrial detention until the May 2026 judgment.

Authorities had investigated him again only weeks before Berlin Pride.

On July 3, investigators searched his Berlin residence over suspected violations of Germany’s weapons laws. Prosecutors said only a toy weapon was found, and that investigation was subsequently set to be closed.

These facts will inevitably raise questions about how the risk posed by Abdul B. was assessed before the attack. They do not, by themselves, establish that authorities had evidence he was preparing this specific attack or legally could have detained him indefinitely.

Suspect killed during police operation Sunday

A large-scale search for Abdul B. continued throughout Sunday.

At approximately 6 p.m. local time, police located him at an allotment garden complex in Berlin’s Spandau district.

According to Berlin Police information reported by Tagesschau, Abdul B. allegedly ran toward officers while carrying a stabbing weapon. Members of Berlin’s special operations unit opened fire.

Emergency personnel attempted to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene.

The death of the suspect did not end the investigation. Shortly afterward, Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor formally took control of the case.

Dobrindt said Sunday evening that authorities were also examining another person, although the suspicion surrounding that individual had not been substantiated. He said investigators did not believe there was an ongoing threat connected with the attack at that point.

What investigators still do not know

Despite major developments within the first 24 hours, significant questions remained unanswered Sunday night.

Investigators had not publicly established the complete sequence of planning behind the attack, whether another person was involved, or precisely what happened during every stage of the vehicle attack and subsequent stabbings.

Authorities also had not publicly released the identity of the woman who was killed.

The investigation had established significant evidence of the suspected attacker’s previous Islamist radicalization and efforts to join ISIS. German authorities were therefore treating the violence as Islamist terrorism.

What had not yet been publicly established was a complete motive explaining the selection of the attack location and victims, including whether anti-LGBTQ+ hatred was itself a specific motivating factor.

Reporting that authorities consider this an Islamist terrorist attack is supported by the evidence they have publicly disclosed. Going further and assigning motives, accomplices or responsibility without evidence would not be.

Berlin Pride attack investigation continues

A woman was killed. Twenty-nine people were injured. A vehicle and stabbing weapon were used near Berlin Pride while the event was still underway. The suspected attacker had a documented history of Islamist radicalization and a recent conviction connected with efforts to join ISIS. He was killed by police less than 24 hours after the attack, and Germany’s federal prosecutor has taken over the investigation.

There will also be legitimate questions about how someone with that history came to be free weeks after his May conviction. Those questions deserve answers based on court records, security procedures and evidence, rather than conclusions made before the investigation is complete.

This story reflects information publicly confirmed as of 8:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, July 26, 2026. This story may be updated as German authorities release additional verified information.