A Saudi doctor was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for a car-ramming attack at a historic Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, in 2024. The 51-year-old trained psychiatrist drove a rented BMW through a security cordon and barricade into crowds days before Christmas, killing six people and injuring more than 300.
The victims included five women between the ages of 45 and 75 and a nine-year-old boy. Prosecutors stated that the attack, which lasted one minute and four seconds, had been planned over several weeks. The defendant, identified as Taleb A., was convicted of charges including murder and the attempted murder of hundreds of others.
Investigators believe the defendant acted alone, driven by dissatisfaction and frustration regarding the outcome of a civil law dispute and his lack of success in various criminal complaints. Officials described the psychiatrist as having a history of far-right sympathies and anti-Islamic rhetoric.
The attack shocked the country and stirred up tensions over the issue of immigration in the months before a general election held in February 2025.