Man arrested in Bottrop over what police say appears to have been an intentional attack

A man has been arrested in Germany after driving his car into a crowd of people, injuring at least four, in what appears to have been an intentional attack directed at immigrants.

Police said the 50-year-old driver of a silver Mercedes first attempted to hit a group of pedestrians in the western city of Bottrop shortly after midnight on Tuesday, but they were able to jump out of the way.

The man, who was not named, then went into the city centre, where he drove into a crowd. Police said those hit by the car included Syrians and Afghans, and some were seriously injured.

The driver sped off towards the nearby city of Essen, where he tried and failed to hit people waiting at a bus stop before being arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide. Authorities said the driver made anti-immigrant comments during his arrest.

“Investigating authorities are currently working on the assumption that this was a targeted attack, possibly motivated by the anti-foreigner views of the driver,” police said, adding that there were indications the suspect had a mental illness.

Angela Lüttmann, a spokeswoman for Münster police, could not immediately confirm whether the driver was German, but she said he came from Essen.

In April 2018, a German man drove a van into a crowd in Münster, killing four people and injuring dozens. The driver, who had sought help for mental health issues in the weeks preceding the attack, then killed himself.

In December 2016, a Tunisian man ploughed a truck into a busy Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. The attack was later claimed by Islamic State. The driver, who fled the scene, was killed in a shootout with police in Italy.