2 dead, several injured in suspected car ramming in Mannheim, Germany

At least two people have been killed and several others have been injured after a car rammed into pedestrians in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, police said Monday.

Mannheim police issued a statement saying that a suspect had been identified and apprehended.  A representative for the state interior ministry in Stuttgart stated the suspect is a 40-year-old German male from Rhineland-Palatinate. Police stated at the time that "it is not assumed that there is a political background."

The incident occurred at around 12:15 p.m. local time. Five persons were critically hurt, according to a police press release. Five others sustained minor injuries. They were all sent to various hospitals.

Mannheim University Hospital said that three of the injured patients it has received, including a toddler, are getting immediate acute treatment.

"My thoughts are with the victims and their families," commented Friedrich Merz, Germany's likely next chancellor, on social site X.

"The incident — like the terrible acts of the past few months — is a stark reminder that we must do everything we can to prevent such acts," he said, adding that “Germany must become a safe country again."

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has postponed her participation in a carnival parade in Cologne after being told about the event, according to a ministry official.

"The rescue of human lives, care of the injured and the initial investigations by the authorities in Mannheim are now the priority," the spokesperson added.

In recent months, two major attacks included automobiles plowing into crowds in German cities.

Monday's tragedy occurred just weeks after two individuals were killed in a vehicle crash in Munich. Prosecutors said the suspect, described as an Afghan seeking refuge in Germany, appeared to have an Islamist motive.

In December, a vehicle crashed into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding 200. The suspect was a Saudi doctor who exhibited anti-Muslim sentiments and supported the far-right Alternative For Germany (AfD) party.