A driver plowed into people in a busy shopping area within the centre of the German city of Leipzig on Monday afternoon, leaving two people dead, authorities said.
A further three people were seriously injured in what officials consider was a deliberate rampage, Mayor Burkhard Jung said.
He described it as “a terrible tragedy.” An unspecified number of individuals sustained less serious injuries.
The driving force, a 33-year-old German citizen, was detained within the automobile. Police said he was a German-born resident of the Leipzig area.
Get each day National news
Get each day Canada news delivered to your inbox so you will never miss the day’s top stories.
Prosecutors said he’s under investigation on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. There was no immediate word on a possible motive.
The inside minister of Saxony state, Armin Schuster, said investigators consider the person acted alone. He said that rage and “psychological instability” are sometimes aspects in such cases, but added that he wouldn’t speculate on whether that was the case here.
04 May 2026, Saxony, Leipzig: Emergency services stand at the doorway to Grimmaische Straße. A automobile has crashed into several people in Leipzig. Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa.
Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty Images
Police chief René Demmler said the person drove from the Augustusplatz, a serious square, along the Grimmaische Strasse into the town’s central pedestrianized shopping area. He stressed that there was now not any danger.
The driving force was arrested within the vehicle and didn’t resist arrest, Demmler said.
Saxony state Gov. Michael Kretschmer expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
“An act like this leaves us speechless — and it makes us determined,” he added, in accordance with German news agency dpa. “We are going to do every thing in our power to unravel this case quickly and completely.”
Photos from the scene showed a automobile with a battered front and a shattered windshield after the incident, which happened at about 5 p.m.
Leipzig is positioned southwest of Berlin and has greater than 630,000 inhabitants, making it certainly one of the largest cities in eastern Germany.
© 2026 The Canadian Press