Berlin Pride attacker shot dead after vehicle rams crowd in terror probe

Police shot and killed Abdul Ballout after he rushed at officers with a knife in a western borough of Berlin, ending a nearly 24-hour manhunt tied to the attack on the city’s Christopher Street Day Pride event. German police identified Ballout as a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese roots. Prosecutors believed the case pointed to an Islamist terror motive.

The attack struck near Tiergarten park and the Brandenburg Gate shortly before 22:00 local time on Saturday, July 25, 2026, as Berlin hosted one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ gatherings. A vehicle drove into a crowd, killing one person and injuring at least 16 others. Later tallies put the number injured at 29.

Ballout was known to police and had links to Islamist circles. After the ramming, police issued a wanted notice and searched across the capital until they found him in a suburb of Berlin on Sunday, July 26, before the confrontation that left him dead. Prosecutors treated the case as terrorism as investigators worked through the attack’s planning, target selection and possible network ties.

Christopher Street Day organizers cut short the Pride event after the assault, and police canceled festivities and a concert in the German capital.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed justice and urged Germans to avoid division and intimidation in the wake of the attack.