Germany Christmas market rampage makes global headlines

By about 7 pm on Friday, the Christmas market in Magdeburg had been totally full of families and friends to celebrate the holiday season. But an attacker, described by officials as a Saudi doctor, soon shattered the peace of the place.

It took the perpetrator just three minutes to kill 5 people and injure hundreds of others by ramming an SUV into the holiday market. The police said that Taleb A. accelerated, trying to hurt as many people as possible.

The attacker first came to Germany in 2006. He lives in Bernburg, about 25 miles south of Magdeburg. A clinic confirmed to local media that the doctor had the job of a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy at their hospital.

Taleb A. had an active social media presence that included posts criticising Germany for authorities’ apparent tolerance of radical Islam, reported NY Times. Among the five victims are a nine-year-old child and four adults.