Breaking: Van Attack In Münster, Germany: 3 Dead, 30 Wounded, 6 In Critical Condition

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Update
9:45 PM (CET): F.A.Z. who said the perpetrator was 27 years old apologized for their mistake and corrected it to 48 years. An earlier live report on n-tv where journalist Ulrich Klose said that the perpetrator had announced to commit a spectacular suicide in the public eye remains to be confirmed.

8:40 PM (CET): Currently, there is conflicting information in the German news outlets; the attacker is referred to as “Jens R.”; some outlets say he was 27 years old, others say 48 years old. Some say he has no criminal record, while n-tv cite “unconfirmed reports” that he had a record of mental instability from 2014 on, and was a petty criminal.

8:26PM (CET): North-Rhine Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul announces that two people have been killed, and additionally, the perpetrator killed himself. Several are critically wounded. Reul announces the driver of the van was a German, and that there were currently no clues to an Islamist attack.

7:15 PM (CET): According to Bild, the driver’s house is searched at this moment. Public broadcaster ZDF report that the driver was a German, 48 years old, and had recently attempted suicide.
6:50 PM (CET): as a “suspicious item” was discovered in the van, police are currently evacuating the nearby houses.

Münster, 4:50 PM (CET): A van plowed into a crowd of people who were sitting at the tables at a street cafe. There are conflicting numbers out there. So far there are 3-4 dead, 30 wounded, 6 of them in critical condition reported. The dead driver is still in the vehicle. He allegedly shot himself. The area is in lockdown, the motive still unclear. Police treat it as a terror attack.

This post will be updated as we learn more.

Photo: Oliver Werner

Photo: Oliver Werner

40 Replies to “Breaking: Van Attack In Münster, Germany: 3 Dead, 30 Wounded, 6 In Critical Condition”

  3. “German, 48 years old, and had recently attempted suicide.” ahh we have the mental problem already nice and pat just in case Abdul or the recently converted Wolfgang’s ideology slips out. Anyone still curious as to why they never allowed the uncensored recording of the last words of the German airline pilot (who deliberately crashed his airliner) to be made public?

    • Conflicting news reports:

      Just now on n-tv (news -tv). Unofficially, the suspect is a 49-year-old with a German passport, who was known to the police and often talked about committing a terror attack.

        • Yes, I have also seen witness accounts of two men jumping out of the car after it crashed. Maybe Jen R. was the owner of the VW bus that was shot by the 2 escaping? (similar to the Christmas market attack)

          • All of a sudden, according to the live ticker of the Rheinische Post, the search for other perpetrators was stopped. Hmmm.

            • I think that doesn’t necessarily have to be a contradicition; eye witnesses saw people running away, but that doesn’t have to mean the ones who ran were involved as perpetrators.

  6. The police are looking for explosives in the apartment of the suspect – expert is saying during an interview in this clip that fact that the driver shot himself proves this wasn’t a jihadist:

    • Thank you. Yes, people pointed that out from early on, also earlier here in the comments.

  7. Bild Ticker is not missing a beat:

    20:21
    “Loud bang” during Special Deployment Commando raid –
    BILD reporter Michael Engelberg reported a “loud bang” in the SEK mission at the house of the alleged perpetrator of Münster.

  9. Multiply witnesses saying they saw passengers leaving the VW camper after it rammed into people.

  16. Germany: Van used in Muenster vehicle ramming taken by authorities

    The van used in yesterday’s fatal vehicle-ramming attack in Muenster was taken away from the scene and held by authorities, early on Sunday morning in Muenster.