Suspect in deadly Berlin pride attack shot dead by police

The suspect in a vehicle and stabbing attack near Berlin’s pride celebrations that killed a woman and injured 29 others has been shot and killed following a police operation, according to officials.

Police located 21-year-old Abdul Ballout at about 6 p.m. on Sunday in an allotment garden in Spandau, a district in western Berlin, according to Berlin Police.

Ballout allegedly attacked members of a police tactical unit with a bladed weapon, and officers opened fire. Emergency responders attempted to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene.

BILD reported that investigators found the suspect after receiving information from people close to him. The garden shed where he was found reportedly belonged to his father.

The attack happened at about 10 p.m. on Saturday near the Christopher Street Day pride celebrations in Tiergarten. The suspect drove a white Citroën van through the park before attacking people with a bladed weapon believed to be a machete.

A woman was killed and 29 people were injured, some of them seriously. The suspect fled after the attack.

Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese origin who was born in Berlin, was known to authorities as a repeat offender and supporter of the Islamic State, according to BILD.

He received a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months in May after being convicted of preparing a serious act of violence threatening state security.

Three people from Ballout’s personal circle were temporarily detained and questioned during the investigation, according to BILD. Two have since been released, while one remains in custody.