A man suspected of ploughing a car through crowds at a German Christmas market in an attack that killed five people and injured scores faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, police have said.
Friday evening's attack in the central city of Magdeburg shocked the country and stirred up tensions over the charged issue of immigration.
The suspect, who was in custody, is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric who has lived in Germany for almost two decades.
The motive for the attack remained unclear.
There were scuffles and some "minor disturbances" at a far-right demonstration attended by around 2,100 people last night in Magdeburg, police said.
They added that criminal proceedings would follow, but did not give details.
Protesters, some wearing black balaclavas, held up a large banner with the word "remigration", a term popular with supporters of the far right who seek the mass deportation of immigrants and people deemed not ethnically German.
Other residents gathered to pay their respects to the dead.
A sea of flowers stretched out in front of St John's Church in Magdeburg, close to the scene of the crime, which attracted a steady stream of tearful mourners over the weekend.
"This is my second time here. I was here yesterday. I brought flowers and it moved me so much and I had to know today how many flowers were brought," local resident Ingolf Klinzmann said.
A sign commemorating the victims bore in large lettering the word "Why?".
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has condemned the "terrible, insane" attack Friday in Magdeburg and made a call for national unity amid high political tensions as Germany heads towards 23 February elections.
He said it was important "that we stick together, that we link arms, that it is not hatred that determines our coexistence but the fact that we are a community that seeks a common future".
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A magistrate ordered the suspect, previously named as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, into pretrial custody on charges of murder on five counts as well as multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, police said in a statement.
Reuters could not immediately ascertain if the suspect had a lawyer.
Those killed were a nine-year-old boy and four women aged 52, 45, 75 and 67, the police statement said.
Among the wounded, around 40 had serious or critical injuries.
Authorities said the suspected attacker used emergency exit points to drive onto the grounds of the Christmas market, where he picked up speed and ploughed into the crowds, hitting more than 200 people in a three-minute attack.
He was arrested at the scene.
German authorities have not named the suspect and German media reports have given his name only as Taleb A. in keeping with local privacy laws.
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Investigation will leave no stone unturned, says minister
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement that the criminal investigation would leave no stone unturned.
"The task is to piece together all findings and paint a picture of this perpetrator, who does not fit any existing mould," Ms Faeser said.
"This perpetrator acted in an unbelievably cruel and brutal manner - like an Islamist terrorist, although he was clearly ideologically hostile to Islam," she added.
The suspect had been strongly critical of German authorities as well as Islam in the past.
He had also appeared in a number of media interviews in recent years reporting on his work helping Saudi Arabians who had turned their back on Islam to flee to Europe.
He had voiced support on social media platform X for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and for US billionaire Elon Musk, who has backed the AfD.
The AfD has strong support in the former East Germany where Magdeburg is located.
Opinion polls put it in second place nationally ahead of elections in February.
Its members, including the candidate for chancellor Alice Weidel, planned a rally in Magdeburg tomorrow evening.
Saudi Arabia had repeatedly flagged to Germany concerns over posts on the suspect's social media, according to a Saudi source and a German security source.
The Christian Democrats, Germany's main opposition party, and the Free Democrats, who were part of the coalition government until its collapse last month, called for improvements to Germany's security apparatus, including better coordination between federal and state authorities.
"The background must be clarified. But above all, we must do more to prevent such offences, especially as there were obviously specific warnings and tips in this case that were ignored," Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the leftist BSW party, told the Welt newspaper.
The BSW, a new political party with far-left roots, has also condemned unchecked immigration and has gained considerable support ahead of the 23 February election.
Vigils held as Germany mourns people killed in attack
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose Social Democrats are trailing in opinion polls, attended a service for victims in Magdeburg's cathedral yesterday.
Magdeburg has been in deep mourning over the attack on Friday evening that left a nine-year-old child among the dead and casualties being treated in 15 regional hospitals.
A spontaneous memorial was created by grieving families and local residents at a church overlooking Magdeburg's Christmas market yesterday.
At first, as people laid flowers outside the church in the early morning, there were just expressions of sorrow and grief.
Andrea Reis, 57, arrived with her daughter Julia, 34, and reflected on a narrow escape.
It was only because her daughter wanted them to keep walking round the market rather than stop to eat that they were not in the path of the car that ploughed through the market, she said.
"It was the terrible sounds, children calling 'mama, papa,', 'help me' - they're going round in my head now," Reis said, a tear trickling down her cheek.
Another young woman sobbed, bent double with grief as an older couple embraced her.
