Amok drive in Berlin: popular teacher from northern Hesse dead – witness describes dramatic scene

Created: 06/13/2022, 05:00

By: Julia Janzen, Armin Hass, Alexander Gottschalk, Nail Akkoyun

A car drives into a crowd in Berlin.

A teacher from Bad Arolsen in northern Hesse dies.

Now investigators are giving new details.

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+++ 1:21 p.m .:

After the alleged rampage in Berlin, traffic around Breitscheidplatz should be slowed down and pushed back.

Car lanes are to be removed on both sides of the square with the Memorial Church in order to prevent a direct and straight drive towards Breitscheidplatz, said the district mayor of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Kirstin Bauch (Greens), on Friday (June 10) on RBB Inforadio.

Meanwhile, the grief in Bad Arolsen is still huge.

A graduating class from the city in northern Hesse was directly affected by the alleged rampage, a teacher was killed and numerous people injured.

A teacher and seven students were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

According to media reports, some of them are still in mortal danger.

Berlin: rampage claims fatalities - witness describes dramatic scenes

The Bild newspaper reports about a 16-year-old who had to be flown to the accident hospital in Berlin-Marzahn in a rescue helicopter after she suffered a fractured pelvis and a severe traumatic brain injury in the incident near the Memorial Church.

She had to be operated on for hours.

A car drove into a crowd in Berlin on Wednesday morning.

© Odd Andersen / AFP

Amok drive in Berlin: Killed teacher was "an important anchor of the school community"

A witness told the BZ that he had seen “the man drive over the woman.” She was “thrown across the street and he drove over her again.

There was no life left in her.” The teacher who taught in Bad Arolsen was considered very popular.

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Counseling for those affected

From Monday (June 13) to Wednesday (June 15), the police will offer advice to those affected by the tragic events in Berlin.

An information and advice center will be set up at the police station in Bad Arolsen, Uplandstraße 4, 34454 Bad Arolsen, telephone 05691/97990, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Victim protection advisors from the police will be available there as contact persons and will advise affected students, parents and teachers about the possibilities of victim protection and victim compensation.

More information on victim protection: https://www.polizei.hessen.de/schutz-Sicherheit/rat-und-pension/opferschutz/.

The 51-year-old, who lives in Wolfhagen in the Kassel district, was “a very important anchor in the school community”, and the whole of Bad Arolsen was badly hit, reported District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst and Mayor Marko Lambion (both independent).

The dismay and sadness in such a small town, where everyone knows everyone, is great, as is compassion and solidarity, said the mayor.

Meanwhile, there are indications that the arrested man is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, said the spokesman for the public prosecutor, Sebastian Büchner.

Drugs were found during a search of the 29-year-old's apartment.

The accused had released his doctors from the duty of confidentiality.

Amok ride in Berlin: teacher from northern Hesse dead – more details on the alleged perpetrator

Update from Friday, June 10, 6:50 a.m .:

Shock and grief are still having an effect after the death drive at the Berlin Memorial Church.

Meanwhile, the investigators' work continues.

For them it is now a matter of clarifying the exact circumstances and background of the crime.

For this purpose, experts are to be commissioned - both for the psychiatric expertise and for the course of events - and witnesses are to be heard.

The suspect is now being held in a psychiatric facility.

Prosecutors have charged him with one count of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.

+++ 8:03 p.m .:

After the rampage in Berlin, the public prosecutor’s office announced that they would apply for a placement order for the 29-year-old suspected driver.

This has now been granted.

In the evening, the Tiergarten district court issued the placement order requested by the public prosecutor.

The accused man is now in a psychiatric facility.

Amok drive in Berlin: teacher from northern Hesse dead – new details about the alleged perpetrator

+++ 18.25:

After the rampage in Berlin, the alleged perpetrator should be housed in a psychiatric ward if the public prosecutor has his way.

An investigating judge is expected to decide on your application on Thursday.

There are indications that a mental impairment was the reason for the crime.

The investigators found drugs when they searched the man's apartment.

The 29-year-old's doctors were released from their duty of confidentiality.

According to the public prosecutor's office, the victims included another tenth-grade teacher from Bad Arolsen in northern Hesse, who suffered life-threatening injuries.

Seven students were in hospital with serious injuries, seven were treated on an outpatient basis.

50 people received psychological care.

Among other things, 15 emergency chaplains were on site to take care of uninjured students and other eyewitnesses.

Amok drive in Berlin: teacher from northern Hesse dead – public prosecutor's office with details of the alleged perpetrator

+++ 3.50 p.m .:

In Berlin, the public prosecutor’s office gave further details after the rampage.

A placement order in a psychiatric ward was requested against the 29-year-old gunman, said the spokesman for the authority, chief public prosecutor Sebastian Büchner, on Thursday in the capital.

There is "quite a lot" to say about paranoid schizophrenia in the man who is said to have killed a woman and injured 32 other people on Wednesday.

Drugs were also found during a search of his apartment.

A teacher is still in mortal danger.

There are currently no indications of a terrorist background.

Terrible incident: car crashes into a crowd in Berlin

View photo gallery

Amok drive in Berlin: teacher from northern Hesse dead – final trip should be “a positive highlight in the school career”.

+++ 12.48 p.m .:

Prime Minister of Hesse Boris Rhein said in the Bad Arolser community center after the alleged rampage from Berlin, in which a teacher from northern Hesse was killed and numerous students and another teacher injured, that he was stunned: the group of students was full of joy drove to Berlin, "that makes it all the more tragic". 

Rhein had previously visited the Kaulbach school in Bad Arolsen in northern Hesse, together with Minister of Education Alexander Lorz, among other things, and spoken to school management and colleagues. 

Seven students are currently hospitalized.

"A tragedy befell" the family of the killed teacher.

It was a "heavy day, we have heavy hearts," said the Prime Minister.

Berlin: Hessian Prime Minister speaks after a rampage

Minister of Education Alexander Lorz explained that a graduation trip for schoolchildren is actually a "positive highlight in their school career".

He has been at the head of the ministry for ten years now, and he has never had to experience anything like this.

The participants of the trip would not be able to get the images out of their heads.

Crisis intervention teams are in school.

"It needs care over a long period of time."

District administrator Jürgen van der Horst reported "great dismay" that people are very close.

The students who were not injured returned to Bad Arolsen last night.

Some parents drove themselves to pick up their children.

Amok drive in Berlin: teacher from northern Hesse dead – suspect with “confused statements”

+++ 11.54 a.m .:

After the alleged rampage from Berlin, in which a teacher from northern Hesse died and numerous students and a teacher were injured, Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein arrived in Bad Arolsen.

Here at the Kaulbach School, a tenth class from the Realschule, who wanted to spend several days in the capital with several teachers, was affected by the crime near Breitscheidplatz.

A press conference is planned for 12 noon.

We are live on site.

We will keep you informed about further developments here.

Berlin: Car crashes into a crowd - psychological care for students from northern Hesse

+++ 11.27 a.m .:

After the alleged rampage on Wednesday at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, eleven emergency chaplains were on site.

According to the latest police information, a total of 29 people were injured when a 29-year-old man drove his car into a crowd on Wednesday (June 8).

A teacher from Bad Arolsen in Hesse died.

In such events, the task of emergency pastoral care is to help people to understand what happened and “to arrive in the here and now,” said the representative of the Evangelical Church for Berlin emergency pastoral care, Justus Münster, on Thursday on RBB Inforadio.

In such situations, people are thrown back to their basic functions.

“Some are very emotional and upset, others are self-absorbed.

We are trying to get access to them and to maintain an offer of talks," said Münster.

The students from Bad Arolsen (Waldeck-Frankenberg) in North Hesse, who were affected by the accident in Berlin on their final trip, are back in North Hesse a day later.

The Kaulbach school, where the 10th grade is normally taught, had already reopened on Thursday, according to information from the Hessischer Rundfunk.

However, the police and regulatory office are on site, as well as psychological staff to look after the students and teachers.

Waldeck-Frankenberg's District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst (independent) had already announced this on Wednesday.

Of the 24 students in the class, seven are still in the hospital.

Amok drive in Berlin: Politicians call the incident "Amoktat"

+++ 8:05 a.m .:

The fatal incident with a car on Berlin’s Ku'damm is classified by politicians as an amok act.

After Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Berlin's Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (both SPD) also made the following statement on Thursday morning: "It tightened up last night," said Giffey on RBB Inforadio.

The police investigations made it clear “that it was a case of an amok attack by a severely mentally impaired person”.

With the help of an interpreter, an attempt is made to "find out more from the sometimes confused statements that he makes".

It is still being determined whether the posters related to Turkey that were in the German-Armenian's murder vehicle played a role.

Giffey spoke of a "dark day in the history of Berlin".

The suspect's sister told a reporter from the Bild newspaper: "He has serious problems." According to the newspaper, neighbors were amazed "that he is capable of such an act." In the evening, numerous people thought of the killed woman and in the Memorial Church the injured from northern Hesse.

Amok drive in Berlin: Chancellor Olaf Scholz expresses himself

Update from Thursday, June 9, 6:55 a.m .:

After a 29-year-old drove his car into a crowd in Berlin on Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has now also commented on the “cruel amok act”.

The politician wrote on Twitter that he was "deeply affected".

The journey of a Hessian school class to the capital ended in a nightmare.

"We are thinking of the families of the dead and the injured, including many children.

I wish you all a speedy recovery.”

Car races in Berlin in a crowd: SEK searches the driver's apartment

Update from Wednesday, June 8, 8:40 p.m .:

After the fatal car incident near the Berlin Memorial Church, the police, with the support of a special task force, searched the driver’s apartment.

A police spokeswoman for the German Press Agency confirmed the operation in the Charlottenburg district, which had previously been reported by the Bild newspaper.

The police also had contact with the driver's sister, it said.

There were no further details at first.

A 29-year-old had driven into a group of people on the sidewalk on Ku'damm in the morning and then crashed into a shop window 200 meters further on Tauentzienstraße.

Among the injured were numerous 10th graders from Bad Arolsen in northern Hesse.

A teacher was killed and a teacher seriously injured, according to the Hessian state government.

According to the Berlin fire brigade, six people were life-threatening and three people were seriously injured.

Fatal car incident: teacher at a school in Bad Arolsen killed

Update from Wednesday, June 8, 5:16 p.m .:

The Hessian state government has confirmed that a teacher from northern Hesse died in the car incident on Wednesday (June 8) in Berlin.

The woman was on a class trip to Berlin with a tenth grader from a school in Bad Arolsen.

"Numerous students" from northern Hesse were among the injured, the state government reported, a teacher was seriously injured according to the current status.

According to information from this newspaper, the school concerned is the Kaulbach School in Bad Arolsen.

A crisis team has now been set up there.

In a statement, the Hessian Prime Minister expressed his dismay at the "shocking news" from Berlin.

"She leaves me stunned and deeply affected," said Boris Rhein (CUD).

His thoughts are with the victims.

The Prime Minister expressed his condolences to the deceased teacher's family and wished the injured a full recovery.

Fatal car incident: Team from Bad Arolsen on the way to Berlin

Hessen has offered the city of Berlin “any support”, it was said from Wiesbaden.

A driver drove his car into a crowd on Wednesday morning (June 8) near the Berlin Memorial Church.

The investigations into the background are currently in full swing.

The Hessian Minister of Education Alexander Lorz (CDU) announced that "emergency support teams were sent to Bad Arolsen to support relatives, classmates and teachers".

A team from the school is also on its way to Berlin to support the young people on site and their parents.

Fatal car incident in Berlin: school class comes from northern Hesse

First report from Wednesday, June 8, 4:45 p.m.:

Bad Arolsen – According to information from our editorial team, the school class affected by the fatal car incident in Berlin comes from Bad Arolsen in northern Hesse (Waldeck-Frankenberg district).

The school class is therefore from the Kaulbach school.

A crisis team is currently meeting there.

Police, rescue workers and pastors are also on site.

One of the women killed is said to be a teacher at the school.

(Armin Hass, Alexander Gottschalk and Nail Akkoyun)