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After the fatal incident with a car in the city center of Trier, the driver is being investigated in five cases on the basis of an urgent suspicion of murder.

In addition, he was accused of dangerous bodily harm in numerous other cases, said Chief Public Prosecutor Peter Fritzen at a press conference in Trier on Tuesday evening.

"We assume that he acted insidiously in the attack in the city center, used the vehicle as a weapon and therefore acted with publicly dangerous means," said Fritzen.

There is therefore no evidence of a “somewhat terrorist”, political or religious motive.

However, there are indications of a psychiatric clinical picture, said the chief prosecutor.

A doctor had examined the man, and a psychiatric report would probably be commissioned.

In addition, the driver was drunk during the crime.

He had previously "enjoyed not inconsiderable amounts of alcohol," said the chief public prosecutor.

The 51-year-old had a breath alcohol level of 1.4 per thousand.

According to the Interior Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Roger Lewentz (SPD), the perpetrator took targeted action.

He drove "zigzag lines" to deliberately inflict suffering, said the minister.

That happened to a very bad extent.

“This event shakes all of Germany,” said Lewentz.

Mayor Wolfram Leibe (SPD) spoke of the blackest day in the city since the Second World War.

Five dead, eight seriously injured

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According to the police, the 51-year-old German from the region raced into the pedestrian zone of Trier in an off-road vehicle in the afternoon.

He drove from the direction of the basilica over the main market in the direction of the Porta Nigra.

On his journey he drove into numerous passers-by.

According to the police, the man was stopped and arrested by emergency services four minutes after receiving the first emergency call.

He put up considerable resistance when he was arrested.

The man had been taken to a police station and was questioned.

The suspect had not appeared to the police in the past and also had no criminal record.

Recently he had no permanent address and no close relatives.

The off-road vehicle belongs to an acquaintance of the man who is unrelated to the act.

According to the police, the suspect spent the past few days in a car.

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A total of five people were killed in the attack with the off-road vehicle.

Police said there was also a nine-month-old toddler among the fatalities.

In addition to the baby and a 73-year-old woman, the first four victims also included a 25-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man from Trier.

The mother of the baby is according to the authorities in the hospital.

In addition, 14 other people were injured, eight of them seriously.

About 25 people were also considered traumatized after the crime.

According to the Interior Minister, a total of around 450 police officers were on duty in Trier.

In addition, 300 helpers from the fire brigade, rescue services and other aid organizations were on site.

The operation worked very well, the victims could have been taken care of quickly, reported the head of the Trier professional fire department, Andreas Kirchartz.

The clinics in the city switched to emergency operation immediately, and the patients could have been brought there immediately.