[ad_1]
“He’s talking to us.” That is the message that the Trier police station released on Wednesday morning. “He” refers to the 51-year-old man who is accused of spitting on a car in the pedestrian zone the day before.
On a zigzag tour to meet as many people as possible. The journey took about a kilometer, through the center of Trier’s main market and just past the Roman city gate Porta Nigra, the symbol of the city. There, four minutes after receiving the first emergency call, the police stopped the car and arrested the suspect.
Five people died, including a nine-week-old baby. Of the at least 14 injured, some remain in mortal danger. The prosecution accuses the driver of the car of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm. He used the car as a weapon insidiously.
It is unclear if the man said anything to police about his motive. The Presidium said no information could be given on the content of the statement.
According to the Interior Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Roger Lewentz (SPD), no confession letter from the Trier killer has been found. The investigation now depends on the questioning and the willingness of the suspect to reveal his motives, the SPD politician said on Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday. Perhaps the 51-year-old will give information. “We hope so.”
No evidence of political motive
At Porta Nigra, the people of Trier express their grief at the ruckus.
(Photo: Caption by Harald / dpa)
For the time being, investigators assumed the assailant acted without an organized record. There is also no further evidence of a political motive.
The suspect will be brought before the judge on Wednesday morning. The prosecution has yet to decide whether to request preventive detention or be admitted to a closed psychiatric facility. Because there are signs of a possible mental illness in man.
The 51-year-old was born in Trier, has apparently been unemployed for a long time and recently did not have a permanent address. It is said that he borrowed a friend’s car and stayed in it the nights before the crime. At the time of the crime he was drunk, a breath alcohol test returned 1.4 per thousand. The owner of the car had nothing to do with the crime, investigators said.
The city is in shock
A phone line opened especially on Tuesday, which people who saw the uproar could report, has now been disconnected again. Witnesses could still appear before the presidium. In addition, the police asked the population not to share photos and videos on social networks, but to upload them to a portal set up for this purpose.
Police lifted the cordon from large areas of downtown after the uproar Wednesday night. “The city is free again,” a police spokesman said in the morning. There will be more investigations in the city, but no barriers are required. The roads in the pedestrian zone were secured late into the night Tuesday. After that it was cleaned and tidy, everything was free again around 1.00 am
The city is still in a state of shock the day after the crime. The images show that citizens have left candles, flowers and commemorative cards at Porta Nigra.
On Tuesday night, people killed and injured in the riot were remembered with an ecumenical prayer in Trier Cathedral. Mayor Wolfram Leibe (SPD) spoke of the “blackest day in Trier after World War II”. Prime Minister Malu Dreyer and Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (both from the SPD) visited the city in the afternoon. “My condolences to the families of the dead. I wish all the injured a speedy recovery,” said Dreyer, who lives privately in Trier.
