5 dead in western Germany after car hits pedestrians

At least five people were killed in Germany, including a 9-month-old baby, and several others injured after a man plowed his car into a group of people in a pedestrian zone in the southwest German city of Trier on Tuesday, police said.

Officers arrested the driver of the vehicle, a 51-year-old German national. He was being investigated by police and will be prosecuted for murder and manslaughter, police said.

The chief public prosecutor described the driver’s condition that he was “severely intoxicated” — with a blood alcohol level of 1.4 — and there are “indications of psychological illness”.

Trier police said the motive behind this incident is not known yet, and that the suspect has no police record and his background reveals an indication of political motivation.

“We always observe those images on TV, in other countries, and we always think this can’t happen in Trier. And now it has happened in Trier, and I am here as mayor, and I have no words and I wonder, how can such a man have this idea?” said Wolfram Leibe, the mayor of Trier.

“What happened in #Trier is shocking,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert tweeted following the incident.

He added that “thoughts are with the relatives of the dead, with the numerous injured and with everyone who is currently on duty to care for those affected”.

State police in western Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate, where Trier is located, urged people through a Twitter post to not spread disinformation.