THE suspected driver who ploughed into pedestrians outside a Berlin shopping centre killing a teacher has been filmed crying for help as he is arrested. At least six people are in a critical condition and another 12, who were students, seriously injured after the car hit a crowd in Berlin on Wednesday morning. The silver […]
THE suspected driver who ploughed into pedestrians outside a Berlin shopping centre killing a teacher has been filmed crying for help as he is arrested.
At least six people are in a critical condition and another 12, who were students, seriously injured after the car hit a crowd in Berlin on Wednesday morning.
The silver Renault Clio mounted the pavement in Breitscheidplatz, the German capital’s main shopping centre, just before 10.30am local time (9.30am BST).
Video taken in the aftermath shows the suspected driver being led away by police.
Chilling video shows a man in a yellow t-shirt and dark-blue tracksuit with yellow trainers being led away.
Before he is put in the back of an unmarked police car, he is seen shouting in German: “Help me! Help me!”
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A bystander filming the arrest retorts: “Why do you need help you’ve just killed, you idiot.”
He then calls the alleged driver an “a******e”.
Berlin police confirmed they had arrested a 29-year-old German-Armenian man living in Berlin.
More than 130 emergency services personnel responded to the incident, Berlin’s mayor, Franziska Giffey, said in a post on Twitter.
“I am deeply affected by this incident. We know that there is one dead and there are several seriously injured. The police are working urgently to clarify the situation,” Giffey tweeted.
BILD reports that the man, named only as Gor H, left a confession letter in the car.
It is still unclear whether he drove deliberately into the crowd or whether it was an accident.
An investigator told BILD: “It’s definitely not an accident – a gunman, an ice-cold killer.”
Following the crash, the driver is said to have tried to run away before brave passers-by held him down and handed him over to a police officer who happened to be nearby who took him into custody until his colleagues arrived.
BILD reports that the man was known to police for prior property crimes.
Two teachers were leading a school trip from Hesse in central Germany when the car crashed into them in front of an H&M, according to German reporter Antje Hildebrandt.
A pregnant woman who suffered a broken hip in the collision is among the injured, according to German news sources.
It’s definitely not an accident – a gunman, an ice-cold killer
Investigator
Police confirmed the car mounted the pavement at the corner of Rankestrasse and Tauentzienstrasse and struck pedestrians before driving onto the road and then back onto the pavement for another 200 metres and crashing into a department store.
Officers also evacuated the nearby Europacenter shopping centre where the crash took place earlier as a “precaution” while they checked the vehicle.
The crash took place outside the historic Kaiser-Wilhelm Church close to the city’s zoo – opposite the site of 2016’s Christmas market terror attack.
Actor John Barrowman who happened to be at the scene at the time shared a dramatic video from the crash site.
The former Doctor Who and Torchwood star said he had seen a “dead body in the middle of the road” and a number of people “walking with limps and injuries”.
A police spokesman told The Sun Online: “We cannot confirm at the moment whether it is an act of terror but we are investigating every possibility and interviewing eye-witnesses.
“We are also not giving the name, age, occupation or gender of the person killed. We have many seriously injured people here.
“There are currently no plans for a press conference.”
An eyewitness told BILD: “Suddenly blue lights were everywhere. The man was surrounded by a crowd of police officers.
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“He came out of a side street… with the officers who were holding him and was given medical attention first.
“After that, they took him away. He seemed motionless. Had himself arrested without further ado.”
