Suspect sought in Berlin Pride ramming attack that killed 1 wanted to join ISIS, officials say
The suspect sought in connection with a car ramming attack on a Berlin LGBTQ+ Pride parade on Saturday is believed to have been motivated by Islamist extremist ideology and sought to join the Islamic State group, authorities said on Sunday. The attack at one of Europe's largest LGBTQ+ events left one woman dead and at least 29 injured.
German police have identified the suspect as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots. Police described him as being part of Berlin's "Islamist scene" and someone who is known to authorities.
"Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack," Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Sunday.
Dobrindt said that Ballout was born in Germany and that his mother was naturalized in 2002, three years before he was born. He said the suspect had been convicted in Berlin in the past, though he didn't specify for what. He said that he had been given a suspended sentence of 1 year and 10 months.
Berlin prosecutors said Ballout shared ISIS propaganda on Instagram in 2024 and the following year traveled to Lebanon "with the intention of proceeding from there to Syria to join ISIS." However, he was arrested and sentenced to three months in prison. On his return to Germany in November 2025 he was arrested in May for "preparing a serious act of subversive violence," prosecutors said.
He was sentenced to a year and ten months in jail, but this was suspended, partially in recognition of the time he had spent in jail in Lebanon and pre-trial detention, and partially because he admitted to the crimes and distanced himself from ISIS.
Police said they believe Ballout rented the vehicle used in the attack but it is unclear if he was the driver. He was described as being of slim build, about 6 feet 3 inches tall, with black hair and wearing a black hoodie with white pants.
Police searched an apartment in Berlin's Schöneberg district early Sunday, but said they found no one there. The suspect's heavily damaged vehicle remained at the site of the attack on Sunday morning.
In a wanted notice issued Sunday, police warned that Ballout may be armed and dangerous and said the public should avoid "direct contact."
Authorities are also working to determine if he acted alone. Investigators believe that one or more people may have left the vehicle after it came to a stop. Some victims also suffered stab wounds, raising the possibility that others were involved in the attack, but authorities have not confirmed that. Dobrindt said the suspect is believed to have injured people with a machete.
A man with Iranian citizenship was arrested, but police have not confirmed any involvement in the attack.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed that law enforcement would find the suspect.
"I would like to say this to Christopher Street Day participants here in Berlin but also across Germany: Don't let yourselves, let us not let ourselves, be intimidated," he said. "These acts have only one purpose: They aim to divide our society. They want to take away from us the most important thing we have: Namely our openness and our freedom."
Berlin's fire service said that of the injured, three have life-threatening injuries, eight were seriously injured, and five had slight injuries. Police have not identified the deceased victim.
The attack occurred a few hundred yards from a party near the Brandenburg Gate that was supposed to close out the city's Pride festival.
On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of mourners gathered at a memorial at the iconic gate. They hugged each other and laid down flowers, candles, rainbow flags and homemade signs, including a cardboard one that said: "the only thing more powerful than hate is love."
"It's a dark day for the community," said Julian Miethig, who had attended the event and been planning to go to an afterparty when he heard that "something bad happened" at the parade.
Rise in ramming attacks
The attack is the latest in a series that have left the country grappling with questions about public safety.
Six people were killed and hundreds injured when a car plowed into a Christmas market in Magdeburg in December 2024. Two months later, a car drove into trade union demonstrators in Munich, killing a woman and her two-year-old daughter. Two more people were killed in March 2025 when a car rammed into a crowd in Mannheim.
The attacks have different alleged motives, but together have kept immigration, security and extremism at the center of German politics. The debates have also fueled support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, and put pressure on Merz and Germany's mainstream political parties as they try to convince voters they can keep the country safe.
