A CHILLING note has been found in the deadly car that ruthlessly ploughed into crowds in the German city Mannheim, with cops playing down the motive.
Two people were tragically killed and at least 11 injured after the black Ford Fiesta sped into pedestrians in the city’s centre on Monday.
Police officers stand next to the damaged vehicle in the city center of Mannheim, Germany[/caption]
A handwritten note is seen inside a damaged car at the crime scene after a vehicle was driven into pedestrians in Mannheim[/caption]
The paper appears to have been sellotaped to the car’s dashboard[/caption]
Cops confirmed that a driver drove into a group of people in Paradeplatz – a pedestrianised street in the city – at around noon when local workers will have been on their lunch breaks.
Now a piece of paper that appears to have been sellotaped to the deadly car’s dashboard has been revealed – potentially showing the crowd plough was planned and mathematically calculated.
Following the tragedy, forensic teams secured evidence in and around the vehicle, which contained the A4 piece of paper.
The note appears to contain information about the plough, with a smiling face and hearts scribbled on it too.
But towards the bottom, there are allegedly calculations and formulas for braking distance and reaction time, local media reports.
It remains unclear as to what the note was actually used for.
And despite it potentially providing vital clues for investigators, it still remains unconfirmed by cops as to whether the horror smash was an accident or attack.
The suspect behind the deadly car plough “shot himself in the mouth” after hitting pedestrians, prosecutors said.
And investigators believe they have “concrete indications that the perpetrator had a mental illness,” therefore ruling out a “politically motivated act”
Thomas Strobl, the state interior minister of Baden-Wurttemberg, confirmed a 40-year-old German from the neighbouring city of Ludwigshafen, was arrested.
Forensics officers examine a damaged vehicle, background, at an access road to the Rhine bridge, in Mannheim[/caption]
The moment one woman jumps out the way to avoid the car[/caption]
The moment the car speeds past pedestrians[/caption]
Emergency services and police stand at Paradeplatz in Mannheim, Germany, after a serious incident[/caption]
Strobl say investigators believe initial checks show “no indication of an extremist or religious background”.
Preliminary proceedings have started with the suspect facing two counts of murder and multiple attempted murders, Mannheim Chief Public Prosecutor Romeo Schluessler said at a press briefing.
German prosecutors have been unable to formally question the suspect due to him shooting himself after the crowd plough, but they hope to speak to him today.
He managed to survive as only a blank was fired and is now in a stable condition in hospital recovering, police prosecutors added.
Interior minister Strobl added that the horror Mannheim is “one of several crimes in the recent past in which a car was misused as a weapon”.
The suspect, a 40-year-old landscape gardener, named in German media as Alexander S, was reportedly known to police.
He has no children and was not in a relationship, public prosecutor Romeo Schussler says.
Alexander S reportedly has various previous convictions, like an assault from over 10 years ago and a case of drunk driving, the public prosecutor reports.
Horrified witnesses claimed the vehicle ploughed into a crowd[/caption]
Reuters[/caption]
Police talk near the scene after a car drove into a crowd, in Mannheim[/caption]
The most recent offence was hate speech in 2018 from a Facebook comment which resulted in a fine, Mannheim24 reports.
Footage caught the horrifying moment a black car sped through the busy German city before smashing into unsuspecting locals.
One woman is seen sprinting across the road in CCTV footage and narrowly avoids getting hit by the deadly vehicle.
Meanwhile another pedestrian attempting to cross jumps back in complete shock as the car darts past.
Onlookers are also seen fearfully turning their heads at the car – just moments before disaster.
Witnesses described heartbreaking scenes of children’s shoes scattered on the floor among the debris caused by the carnage.
Cops have so far refused to declare the tragedy as an attack.
But cars have been used as deadly weapons in several terror attacks in recent months in Germany, with the country left reeling.
The Mannheim tragedy comes less than three weeks after an Afghan asylum seeker ploughed his Mini into a crowd in Munich, killing two and injuring dozens more.
The Mini Cooper is said to have “sped up” and ploughed into the back of around 1,500 Verdi demonstrators – a Berlin-based German trade union – on Seidlstrasse in Munich.
The Minister-President of Bavaria, Markus Söder, labelled the shocking incident a “suspected attack”.
Police said at the time that the suspect is a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who, the region’s interior minister added, was known to cops in relation to drug and theft incidents.
Interior and Homeland Minister Nancy Faeser visits the alleged crime scene after a car was driven into pedestrians[/caption]
Flowers are laid in the city center of Mannheim[/caption]
A person crosses the street in the city center of Mannheim a day after a driver rammed a car into a crowd[/caption]
And before this, a two-year-old boy and a man were killed in a stabbing in Aschaffenburg, in Bavaria.
This attack is thought to have been carried out by another Afghan asylum seeker whose application to stay in the country had been rejected.
In December, 2024, six people were killed and over 200 injured when a car rammed into a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg sparking far-right protests.
And in May last year, a knifeman was shot by cops after a stabbing rampage at an anti-Islam rally in southwest Germany.
One of his victims, German far-right firebrand Michael Stürzenberger, is said to be undergoing surgery for stab wounds to his leg and face.
The horror ordeal unfolded at a gathering in Mannheim for the BPE political group, which is known to hold anti-Islam views, and was live-streamed to thousands on YouTube on Friday morning.
Footage shows the moment the attacker also stabbed a police officer – and at least one other person was injured in the rampage.
Islam critic Michael Stürzenberger, 59, had been taking part in a rally organised by German counter-jihad group “Citizens’ Movement PAX Europa” when he was attacked and “seriously” injured.
Shocking footage showed a bearded man armed with a large knife lunging at Stürzenberger before they both tumbled to the floor.
The smashed-up car that drove into a large crowd at a Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany[/caption]
A man attacks people with a knife, at a far right-wing information stand in the central market of the city of Mannheim in May 2024[/caption]
