Too early to jump to conclusions over German Christmas market attack, minister says

Germany’s interior minister said on Monday it was still too soon to jump to any conclusions about the man suspected of driving his car into a Christmas market in Magdeburg and killing at least five people.

Authorities are looking into whether there were security lapses in the build-up to the Dec. 20 attack, which has cast a renewed spotlight on security and immigration ahead of a snap election.

Officials have described the arrested suspect as a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric and a sympathy for the far-right Alternative for Germany Party.

“The perpetrator does not fit into any previous categorisation,” Faeser said after a four-hour session of a ministerial committee focused on the attack.