Suspect arrested over Leipzig crash that killed two ‘had recently been released from psychiatric hospital’

The suspect arrested after a car drove into a crowd in Leipzig yesterday had recently been discharged from a psychiatric hospital, according to reports.

Two people were killed and three seriously injured when a car drove through a busy shopping area in the eastern German city on Monday, authorities said, the latest in a spate of such incidents in recent years in the country.

The driver, a 33-year-old German citizen named in local media as Jeffrey K, was stopped and detained in the car. Police said he was a German-born resident, and that he was under investigation on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

The Saxon Ministry of Social Affairs told public broadcaster MDR that the suspect had been discharged from a mental health clinic at the end of April, after checking in voluntarily.

“During his stay at the clinic, he posed no danger to himself or others,” a spokesperson for the ministry said, according to the outlet, adding that there were “no medical grounds” to stop him from leaving.

open image in gallery

The statement contradicted earlier reports that the suspect was released on Sunday, the day before the incident.

It also contradicted claims he had been expelled from the psychiatric ward over aggressive behaviour towards other patients.

The interior minister of Saxony state, Armin Schuster, said investigators believe the man acted alone, adding that rage and “psychological instability” are often factors in such cases, but declining to speculate on this case.

Authorities are yet to share a possible motive but believe the incident was a deliberate rampage, according to mayor Burkhard Jung.

“We are mourning two deaths, currently three seriously injured people, and many others who were injured,” Jung told journalists at a media briefing on Monday evening. “It’s impossible to find the right words for this horrific attack," he added.

open image in gallery

Early findings from the police investigation do not suggest the perpetrator had a political or religious motive, according to German newspaper Welt.

A damaged Volkswagen SUV with a person on top of the vehicle was seen speeding through a pedestrian zone, local broadcaster Radio Leipzig reported.

Police conducted a large-scale operation in the area with multiple emergency vehicles and road closures.

The victims have been identified only as a 63-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man, both from Germany, according to police.

open image in gallery

Like other European countries, Germany has witnessed a series of car-ramming and stabbing incidents in recent years, some of which involved religious or political motivations and some carried out by people with mental health issues.

Last year, two people were killed in the western city of Mannheim, when a 40-year-old man drove a car into a group of pedestrians, only weeks after a similar attack on a trade union demonstration in Munich, killing two and injuring more than 40, many children among them.

In December 2024, several people were killed in a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg. That incident came months after a stabbing attack at a festival in the western city of Solingen.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies