The president of the German Bishops’ Conference and the local bishop of Magdeburg have expressed their shock and offered prayers after a car attack at a Christmas market in eastern Germany on Friday left five people dead and more than 200 injured.

The “attack in Magdeburg leaves us speechless. The horror, grief, and sympathy are felt today by many people throughout Germany and worldwide,” Bishop Georg Bätzing said, CNA Deutsch reported.

“Our thoughts and prayers are in Magdeburg during these hours. As churches, we mourn with the relatives of the victims of this terrible attack and pray for the injured and the deceased, as well as for their relatives who now fear for their loved ones.”

Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg issued a statement immediately after the attack on Friday evening local time: “I think of those affected, their relatives, and the emergency services and include them in my prayers.” 

The local bishop added, “especially in these days and before a feast where the message of God’s love, human dignity, and the longing for a healed world particularly move us, such an act is all the more frightening and abysmal.”

Bishop Feige also emphasized that the attack presented “a challenge for our society to counter any extremism even more decisively and to work even more for peaceful coexistence.”

In his joint statement with the Lutheran organization EKD, Bishop Bätzing expressed gratitude to the “committed emergency services who have been caring for the injured since yesterday and are working under high pressure to clarify what happened, as well as to the emergency chaplains who are standing by the people in this moment and accompanying the traumatized.”

Suspect came from Saudi Arabia

The attack took place shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday when a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia drove a black rental car into crowds at a Christmas market in the heart of Magdeburg, a city of 240,000 people about two hours west of Berlin by car.

The suspect, identified as Taleb A., came to Germany in 2006 and had at one time worked as a psychotherapist, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He had been granted indefinite leave to remain in Germany after applying for asylum, citing threats in his home country.

In a 2019 interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, the suspect had described himself as an “ex-Muslim.” 

German media on Saturday reported that the man had acted increasingly erratically on social media in recent months, threatening bloodshed and “war” on German authorities.

The Diocese of Magdeburg announced that St. Sebastian’s Cathedral would be open for prayer and reflection on Saturday. A memorial service will be held at Magdeburg Cathedral on Saturday at 7 p.m., local broadcaster MDR reported.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser visited the city earlier in the day to meet with local officials and pay their respects at the site of the attack.