In Munich, Germany, on Feb 13th, a car rammed through a crowd leaving at least 30 people injured. Some of the reported injuries were life threatening. A mother, 37, and her two year old child passed away due to the injuries. The incident was the day right before a major security conference by world leaders. The motive is unclear but people are assuming it was an attack. The suspect admitted to carrying out the attack and seemed to have some kind of religious motivation. The car was driven by a 24 year old Afghan in the city center. Police say he is an asylum seeker and was known for theft and drug incidents. The suspect was put under arrest at the scene immediately to no longer pose a threat. 

The car hit a group of protesters for a demonstration linked to a strike by the Verdi union. Verdi is the key trade union for Germany’s sector. After being arrested, the suspect shouted “Allah Akbar” meaning; “God is great” towards the police. Nobody is quite sure why he said that, but people believe he had shown some signs of Islamist influence. Authorities say they searched the suspects home and media, and that there was no planning of the incident. However, he sent a family member a text on messenger, saying,  “Maybe I won’t be here tomorrow.” This may have been seen as the suspect knowing he was going to commit this crime and could get in trouble for it, though there is no context behind this being said.

This tragedy has left people traumatized and authorities question how or why this had happened. A mother and her daughter have even passed away from the injuries of this incident. Although we don’t know the reason behind this man committing this crime, we know it wasn’t right. Keep the victims in your thoughts as authorities continue to question and try to find a reason behind this all.