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A car plowed into a pedestrian zone in Leipzig, Germany, on Monday, killing two people and leaving several others seriously injured, officials said.
Reuters reported that police detained the driver, identified as a 33-year-old German man. Officials said there was no ongoing threat to the public as investigators work to determine what led to the incident.
Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung said the city was “mourning two deaths” and at least three people were seriously hurt, calling it a “horrific attack.”
“We are mourning two deaths, currently three seriously injured people, and many others who were injured,” Jung told journalists at a media briefing on Monday evening, according to Leipziger Volkszeitung.
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People gather after a car ran into a crowd, in Leipzig, Germany, May 4, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a handout video. (NEWS 5/Handout via REUTERS )
“It’s impossible to find the right words for this horrific attack,” he added.
Germany, like several other European countries, has seen a string of car-ramming and stabbing attacks in recent years. Some have been tied to political or religious motives, while others have involved suspects with mental health issues.
Saxony’s prime minister, Michael Kretschmer, said the suspect in Monday’s incident may have been dealing with mental health issues. Officials said he surrendered without resistance, according to local outlet Leipziger Volkszeitung.
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Police cordon off the area after a car plowed into people on a street, leaving at least two dead and several injured, in the city center in Leipzig, Eastern Germany on May 4, 2026. (Jens Schlueter / AFP via Getty Images)
Police launched a large-scale response, flooding the area with emergency vehicles and shutting down nearby streets.
City officials described the incident as a “mass casualty event,” though the exact number of injuries was not immediately clear.
Local broadcaster Radio Leipzig reported that a damaged Volkswagen SUV was seen speeding through the pedestrian zone, with a person on top of the vehicle.
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A police car is parked behind a police cordon at the spot where a car has driven into a group of people. (Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The incident comes amid a series of similar attacks across Germany.
Last year, two people were killed in Mannheim when a driver plowed into a group of pedestrians. Weeks earlier, another attack at a trade union demonstration in Munich left two dead and more than 40 injured, including several children.
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In December 2024, a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg left multiple people dead, months after a stabbing at a festival in Solingen.
Reuters contributed to this report.
