MAGDEBURG, Germany -- German authorities said they received tipoffs last year about the suspect in a car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg as more details emerged Sunday about the five people killed.
Authorities identified the suspect as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency. Police haven't publicly named the suspect, in line with privacy rules, but some German news outlets have identified him as Taleb A. and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Authorities say he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam.
He is being held in custody as authorities investigate him.
"This perpetrator acted in an unbelievably cruel and brutal manner -- like an Islamist terrorist, although he was obviously ideologically an Islamophobe," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Sunday.
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The suspect originally lived in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where he completed his specialist training in Stralsund and also came to the attention of authorities due to threatening criminal acts, the state interior minister, Christian Pegel, said Sunday.
In a dispute over the recognition of examination results, he threatened members of the state medical association with an act that would attract international attention, triggering an investigation and a search of his home, the dpa news agency reported.
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