Anger as Berlin Pride attacker revealed to have been freed weeks earlier

Image source, Omer Messinger/Getty Images Image caption, Mourners gather near the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday By Bethany Bell Reporting from Leipzig Published 5…

Published Mon Jul 27 2026 12:33:31 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Source: BBC News

# Anger as Berlin Pride attacker revealed to have been freed weeks earlier

![Image 1: Three people hug each other with a rainbow LGBT flag visible in the background and the Brandenburg Gate behind](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/1024/cpsprodpb/ce88/live/8415f670-89af-11f1-9c0c-33faa7b3d86d.jpg)Image source, Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Image caption,

Mourners gather near the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday

By Bethany Bell

Reporting from Leipzig

* Published 5 hours ago

**In Germany there is grief, shock and, increasingly, anger about the attack at Berlin Pride on Saturday night which left one Polish woman dead and injured at least 29 others.**

The main suspect, Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese heritage, [was shot and killed by police on Sunday](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62eg899l99o).

Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Ballout "had previously drawn attention to himself through a high volume of criminal offences, radicalisation and affiliation with the Islamist scene."

As [details emerge about his criminal convictions](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cevmdxz4872o), many are asking why Ballout was not in prison.

![Image 2: The 21-year old suspect identified by police as Abdul B.