Driver in 2024 Magdeburg Christmas market attack convicted of murder and
given life sentence
[June 26, 2026]
BERLIN (AP) — A Saudi doctor was convicted of charges including
murder and sentenced to life in prison Friday over the car-ramming
attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg in 2024
that left six people dead.
The defendant, 51-year-old Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, went on trial at the
state court in the eastern city in November. The court found that he
carries “particularly serious” guilt, German news agency dpa reported.
That means he won’t be eligible for release after 15 years as is usually
the case in Germany. |
The defendant, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, center, arrives at the court in
Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa
via AP) |
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Five women and a boy died, and many more people were wounded, in
the Dec. 20, 2024 attack that lasted just over a minute.
Investigators have said that the attack was carried out with a
rented BMW X3, which reached speeds of up to 48 kph (30 mph)
during the rampage. They said when they filed the indictment
that the defendant wasn’t under the influence of alcohol, and
apparently acted out of dissatisfaction with the outcome of a
legal dispute and the failure of various criminal complaints.
They also have said that he planned the attack without
accomplices.
Officials have said the suspect doesn’t fit the usual profile of
perpetrators of extremist attacks. The defendant described
himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam, and on
social media expressed support for the far right. He had
previously come to authorities’ attention for threatening
behavior but wasn’t known to have committed any violence.
The Magdeburg car-ramming was one of a series of attacks
involving immigrants that pushed migration to the forefront of
the campaign for Germany’s national election in February 2025.
The defendant arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received
permanent residency.
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