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2025 Mannheim car attack
Vehicle-ramming in Germany From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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On 3 March 2025, a car was driven into a crowd at Paradeplatz, a popular pedestrian area in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The collision resulted in two fatalities and injuries to 14 individuals. The driver, 40-year-old Alexander Scheuermann, fled the scene but was apprehended by police.[2][3][4]
The nature of the incident remains under investigation by state police, who have stated the suspect has psychiatric problems and there is "no indication" of a political or religious motive.[5][6][7]
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Background
Germany was celebrating Rosenmontag or Rose Monday, a carnival held before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, causing German police to be on high alert.[8]
There were two prior car-based attacks in Germany within three months of this one, some with political motives, some caused by mentally ill people. Due to security concerns, official Rosenmontag celebrations had already been cancelled in several German major cities, including Mannheim, although parade marches had taken place on the weekend for Tulpensonntag and a Fasnacht market was scheduled to take place on 4 March.[9][10] As no special events had been planned for the day, no bollards or other barriers were put in place, the situation preceding the incident being described as "a regular day of urban life in Mannheim".[11][12]
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Incident
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The incident took place at 12:14 local time (11:14 GMT).[7][13][14] Surveillance footage showed a black 2002 Ford Fiesta making a turn from the city centre ring into Planken, a shopping lane, accelerating to at least 60 km/h.[7] The vehicle drove into a group of people sat on a bench inside the pedestrian zone in Paradeplatz, hitting several of them.[15][11] Eyewitnesses reported a chaotic scene, with multiple victims lying on the ground.[16][17][18] Mannheim Police Chief Ulrike Schäfer was at the square and stated that she had seen one person flung 50 metres from the impact.[19]
As the car continued to drive through the inner city, Afzal Muhammad,[20] an off-duty taxi driver who had witnessed the collision, followed the car. Muhammad is credited with saving lives by warning pedestrians with shouting and honking.[15][21] While attempting to shake off the pursuer, the car crashed into a cul-de-sac wall in sector E7 and was blocked from reversing out by the taxi.[22][23] A man got out of the car and fired a gunshot at Muhammad before fleeing on foot.[24][25][26] Police found the abandoned car at 12:26.[19] The man was arrested at 12:43, near the Rheinbrücke at Mannheim Harbour, after he shot himself in the mouth with a gas pistol.[25][27][28] Afterwards, he reportedly asked to be shot by the arresting officers.[29]
The city's hospital declared a state of emergency, and authorities advised residents to avoid the downtown area of Mannheim during the emergency response.[30]
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Victims
Two people, an 83-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man, were killed.[31] Baden-Württemberg LKA reported the number of injured as 11, including five seriously,[17] which was revised to 14 on 5 March.[32][29] Ten of them were locals to Mannheim while the remaining four were from Ludwigshafen. They were aged 2 to 62.[33]
The injured were treated at Universitätsklinikum Mannheim, Theresien Hospital, and Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg. As of 6 March, all but one have been released from hospital.[33]
Accused
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The suspect was identified as 40-year-old German citizen Alexander Scheuermann,[34] from the neighbouring city Ludwigshafen. Scheuermann did not provide any information to authorities about the attack.[35] Police seized a gun, written documents and digital data carriers, which were held for analysis.[36] Scheuermann didn't have a permit for the blank-firing pistol used in the attack at the time of the incident.[37] A handwritten note was found taped to the dashboard, containing reminders for left-right distinction and "mathematical formulas for reaction distance, braking distance and stopping distance".[24][38] Due to the self-inflicted injury to his mouth, he was brought to a hospital for treatment and taken into police custody the following day. An interrogation was postponed until Scheuermann became capable of speech again.[27][39]
Scheuermann had been in psychiatric treatment for several years, last in August 2024, after he told a hospital receptionist that he wanted to set himself on fire.[40][33] According to state prosecutor Romeo Schüssler, the suspect had been previously convicted of assault, drunk driving, and hate speech between 2008 and 2018.[41][40] In December 2009, Scheuermann attacked a woman with an electroshock weapon after luring her into his car in Altenkirchen. This did not result in imprisonment due to "significantly reduced criminal responsibility",[42] but later contributed to a three-month sentence following an arrest in September 2010, for carrying a gas pistol without a licence inside the courtyard of a gymnasium in Ladenburg. Scheuermann has been linked to "Ring Bund", a neo-Nazi arms trafficking group based out of Bavaria and associated with the Reichsbürger movement, which had been shut down in 2022.[40][43][44] Police are investigating potential ties to the German far right-wing movement after images of Scheuermann surfaced attending an NPD protest march in October 2018.[45][46][47][48]
As of 27 March 2025, Scheuermann has refused to talk to investigators. A psychiatric evaluation was issued.[49]
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Reactions
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On the evening of 3 March 2025, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD), Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (B90/Greens), State Minister of the Interior Thomas Strobl (CDU) and Mannheim's Mayor Christian Specht (CDU) expressed their dismay in Mannheim.[50][51]
Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni[52] and President of France Emmanuel Macron offered condolences.[53]
Singer Maite Kelly cancelled a concert that was scheduled for 5 March "out of respect for the victims".[24]
Throughout the week, state authorities deployed 55 pastoral counselors (Seelsorger) of various religions for Mannheim citizens.[54][55] By the beginning of the following week, Baden-Württemberg extended the program due to high usage.[56][57] On 10 March, an ecumenical and interreligious remembrance service was held at Paradeplatz.[14][58][59]
On 14 March, a discussion about the incident in an internal affairs meeting in the Bundestag was delayed in favour of discussing a basic law amendment for the debt brake.[60] As of 19 March, an internal investigation is underway, with Thomas Strobl defending police's statements about a presumed mental illness rather than political motive despite the suspect's right-wing involvement.[61][62][63]
Although initial comparisons were drawn to the earlier Magdeburg and Munich car attacks,[64][65][66] some media have since criticised waning reporting of the Mannheim car incident since 5 March.[67][68] Overall interest and attention was significantly lower following the identification of the suspect,[69] and unlike in the direct aftermath of the Munich car-ramming, Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not visit the site.[70] It was noted that similar had occurred with the 2018 Münster attack, the 2019 Essen-Bottrop-Oberhausen attack,[71][72] the Volkmarsen and Trier attacks in 2020 and the 2022 Berlin car attack, despite higher casualties, in either fatalities or injuries.[73][74][75]
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See also
References
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