Police have said the man was German and it has been reported he had psychological problems. The German media outlet the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has reported that the driver was Jens R, 48, who lived close by to where the attack took place. The incident took place at around 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon. Neighbours described the perpetrator as a strange character who often sought conflict and officers discovered another gun in his apartment. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the man had psychological problems but this has not been confirmed. His exact motive for the attack is not known, German media have said that he was not known by the police as an extremist but he had tried to commit suicide in the past. Part of the medieval old town has been placed on lockdown as police, firefighters, rescue and emergency vehicles swarm to the scene. German media has reported that two other people fled from the vehicle but this has not been confirmed. According to reports the vehicle, described by some witnesses as a small truck, rammed into crowds of people who were sitting near the Kiepenkerl statue in the old town. Many of the victims were sitting outside the restaurant enjoying the sun when the van ploughed into them.

TWITTER Emergency services have raced to the scene of a possible terror attack in the German town of Munster

Erich Rettinghaus, chairman of German Police Union in the North-Rhine-Westphalia region, said: "First of all we are mourning for the victims and injured people. “Our condolences to all the injured people and the family of the dead and injured and we also wish a speedy recovery. “There has always been a high possibility of attacks in all of Germany. "Now it has also hit North-Rhine-Westphalia, so far we have always been able to prevent planned attacks in advance, this time we failed. “We now have to investigate and arrest those responsible to avoid further attacks"

TWITTER Emergency services raced to scene of the suspected van attack in Munster

A police spokesman said: "There are several dead, probably including the suspect.” When asked if terrorism was a possible motive, a security source said: "The scenario is such that an attack cannot be ruled out." Local newspaper RP Online reported that at least three people were killed in the attack and that the driver later shot himself. Emergency services vehicles raced to the scene and a police helicopter is hovering above the historic town about 300 miles west of the capital Berlin. A police spokesman said specialist officers were checking the area for explosives but did not believe there were further suspects at large.

TWITTER The aftermath of the Munster van attack

Dozens of people are believed to have been injured in the attack. Munster police have confirmed there have been fatalities and injuries. Local media said police were reporting "several dead and multiple injuries".

Munster van attack: Truck drives into crowds in Germany Sat, April 7, 2018 The truck driver has reportedly killed himself Play slideshow Twitter 1 of 6 At least 3 people are dead and dozens more injured

Police have warned people to avoid the area and steer clear of the historic old town. First pictures from the scene show upturned chairs and tables outside a pavement cafe in a public square. The area is very popular with tourists and locals alike and was packed at the time of the attack with people enjoying the spring weather.

Twitter The van ploughed into several people in the town of Munster in Germany

All available police forces and special units of North Rhine-Westphalia have been ordered to head to Münster. Neighbouring districts have also sent emergency rescue teams to the area. The Rheinische Post claimed that police have found a suspicious item inside the vehicle and they know have to found out exactly what this was. The vice government spokeswoman Ulrik Demmer wrote on Twitter: “Dreadful news from Munster.

Twitter Emergency rescue teams have been brought into the area

“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.” There is also an investigation linked to the attack at the restaurant Kiepenkel, which is a traditional place popular with tourists and locals. The mayor of Munster Markus Lewe said: “All of Munster mourns over this terrible event. “Our thoughts are with the relatives of the dead”. The Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet said on Twitter: “A sad, a terrible day for our country!

EPA A police officer stands next to the area zoned off for the van incident

"My thoughts and prayers are with the relatives of the dead and the seriously injured in # Münster. "My thanks to the rescue workers and the police for doing everything to sort out this terrible incident.” Germany’s interior minister Herbert Reul is visiting Munster tonight to assess the situation. All theatre productions have been cancelled in the German city.

GETTY Special police officers are at the scene in Munster where several people have been killed & injured</s>(CNN) A van slammed into a crowd Saturday in an apparently deliberate act in the German city of Muenster, killing two people and leaving 20 others injured, officials said.

The driver also shot and killed himself, a police spokeswoman said. The driver was a German citizen, said Herbert Reul, state minister for internal affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia state.

Authorities are treating the incident as an attack. There is no known connection to radical Islam but investigators are still looking into the driver's background, Reul said.

Police earlier said there were three deaths. Reul clarified later Saturday that the total included the attacker.

Muenster police spokesman Andreas Bode said law enforcement is looking into witness reports that some people fled the attacker's van after the attack. He also said there was a suspicious object in the vehicle that was under investigation.

Read More</s>Muenster (CNN) A man who drove a van into a crowd of people in the German city of Muenster on Saturday acted alone, according to police.

The driver was a German citizen, said Herbert Reul, state minister for internal affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia.

There was no known connection to radical Islam, he said, but investigators are still combing through the man's background.

Authorities are looking into whether the driver had a history of mental illness.

Asked about a motive behind the attack, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in a press conference Sunday that the man, who has not been named, could have been mentally ill.

"We continue investigating in all directions," Seehofer told reporters.

Muenster police spokesman Rolf Werenbeck-Ueding also told CNN that the driver had a history of petty crime.

Police had said they are investigating witness reports of people fleeing out of the van after the attack. Spokesman Jochan Laschki said the driver had no accomplices, and the investigation is ongoing.

The attack happened about 3:30 p.m local time in the old part of the western German city, an area popular on weekends. It was a warm sunny afternoon, one of the first nice days of spring, and many people were out, Bild editor Julian Reichelt told CNN.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "deeply shocked by the terrible events in Muenster."

In a statement tweeted by a German government spokeswoman, Merkel said "everything is now being done to clarify the act and support the victims and their families."

"With dismay, I learned of the terrible incident in Muenster," Seehofer said in a statement Saturday, adding, "Police in Muenster and throughout (the state of North Rhine-Westphalia) are now working hard to investigate the matter."

Federal authorities are in close contact with local officials, Seehofer said.

Muenster, with about 300,000 people, is home to numerous universities and has a student population of about 58,000, the city government says . The city calls itself the cycling capital of Germany and says about 100,000 residents use a bike daily.</s>Three killed and several injured after a man drives van into a crowd of people in Muenster, Germany before taking his own life. Officials are investigating the matter for possible terror connections



Police sources say the driver comitted suicide after ploughing the van into the pedestrians. Pic/Twitter

In what may be considered a possible terror attack, a man driving a van plowed into a crowd in the northern German city of Muenster on Saturday. At least thre people and dozens were injured in the assault. The culprit then comitted suicide by shooting himself, according to a senior German security official. Officials are unsure whether the incident had connections to terrorism.

The security official further added that response measures were being conducted by the police as though it were a terrorist attack, but that they remained uncertain about whether it was one, the Washington Post reported. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the unfolding details of the case. "There are dead and injured. Please avoid the area," the North Rhine-Westphalia regional police wrote on their official Twitter account. "We are on site." The police told people to avoid the city centre.

Images of the city centre surfacing on social media showed a small delivery van that appeared to have hopped onto a sidewalk off the street and plowed through the seats and tables of an outdoor cafe. Chairs were scattered and broken across a small cobblestone plaza. Vehicles have been used in terrorist attacks across Europe in recent years, including in Germany. In December 2016, a Tunisian man whose asylum request had been rejected crashed a truck through a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring 56.

- With inputs from agencies

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The inputs from agencies have been sourced from a third party syndicated feed. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text</s>A German man drove a van into a group of people sitting outside a restaurant in the old city centre of Muenster in western Germany on Saturday, killing two of them before shooting himself dead, police and state officials said.

The vehicle ploughed into people seated at tables outside the Grosser Kiepenkerl eatery, a popular destination for tourists in the pretty university city.

Herbert Reul, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, home to Muenster, told German television the suspect was a German citizen and there was "no indication of an Islamist background".

Police spokesman Andreas Bode earlier said: "At 15:27, a vehicle drove into the outside area of the restaurant... three people were killed, 20 injured, and six of those seriously injured."

"The perpetrator killed himself in the vehicle," Bode added.

Reul said the three dead included the perpetrator.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported in its online edition that the perpetrator was Jens R., 48, who resided some 2 km (1.2 miles) from the crime scene.

Broadcaster ZDF said police were searching his apartment and that he had contact with far-right extremists, but there was no evidence thus far that he was a far-right extremist himself.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the man had psychological problems. The Interior Ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia would neither confirm nor deny the report.

Bode said investigators were looking at the possibility that other suspects fled the scene, though they had no evidence that this was the case, he added.

Bild newspaper said police were searching for two possible additional suspects after witnesses said they had seen two people jump out of the van. Jens R. had no police record, the newspaper said.

"The crime scene investigators are checking out the crime scene, trying to identify, investigate and secure traces. That is our current task," Bode said.

A police spokeswoman said: "The danger is over."

Martin Wiech, who said he had studied in Muenster, told Der Spiegel he had driven there to go shopping and was now unable to return to his car.

"Unbelievable that something like this could happen in Muenster. It is one of the most peaceful cities I know," he said.

The incident came one year to the day after a truck attack in Stockholm that killed five people.

It also evoked memories of a December 2016 truck attack in Berlin that killed 12. In that attack, Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck, killed the driver and then ploughed into a crowded marketplace, killing 11 more people and injuring dozens of others.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement she was "deeply shaken".

"Everything possible is now being done to clarify the facts and to support the victims and their relatives", she added.

On Saturday evening, the White House issued a statement sending U.S. President Donald Trump's "thoughts and prayers" to the families of those killed.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "All my thoughts are with the victims of the attack in Muenster. France shares in Germany's suffering".

Der Spiegel reported that police were investigating a similar incident that occurred in the eastern German city of Cottbus on Friday evening, when a man drove his car into a group of people, injuring two, before fleeing.</s>Muenster, Germany: A man drove a van into a group of people sitting outside a popular restaurant in the old city centre of Muenster in western Germany on Saturday, killing several of them before taking his own life, police said.

“There are several dead,” a police spokeswoman said, adding that several of those injured were in critical condition. A police spokesman said around 30 people were injured.

A security source added: “The scenario is such that an attack cannot be ruled out.”

The van drove into people sitting at tables outside the Grosser Kiepenkerl restaurant, which is popular with tourists, the police spokeswoman said.

Mass-selling daily Bild reported in its online edition that three people had died in the incident.

Police said they were not looking for further suspects after the driver took his own life after the crash, but on Twitter they urged people to avoid Muenster city centre. “The danger is over,” the police spokeswoman said.

The incident came one year to the day after a truck attack in Stockholm that killed five people, and also evoked memories of a December 2016 truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 people.

Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck on 19 December 2016, killed the driver and then ploughed it into a crowded marketplace, killing 11 more people and injuring dozens of others.

“I am shocked by the news from Muenster,” said Andrea Nahles, parliamentary leader of the Social Democrats, junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition. “My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives,” she added. “I hope that our authorities can quickly clarify the background to this incident and wish the local forces much strength for their work.” Reuters</s>Several people have been been killed, and about 30 reported injured, in the city of Muenster, western Germany, after a van drove into pedestrians.

The driver of the vehicle has killed himself, police said.</s>MUENSTER, Germany (Reuters) - A man drove a van into a group of people sitting outside a popular restaurant in the old city centre of Muenster in western Germany on Saturday, killing at least two of them before shooting himself dead, police said.

The vehicle ploughed into people sitting at tables outside the Grosser Kiepenkerl restaurant, which is popular with tourists.

“At 15:27 (1327 GMT), a vehicle drove into the outside area of the restaurant ... three people were killed, 20 injured, and six of those seriously injured,” a police spokesman said, adding: “The perpetrator killed himself in the vehicle.”

It was not immediately clear whether the perpetrator was among the three killed, or whether his death took the number of dead to four. A police spokeswoman said separately that there were at least three people dead.

The identity of the perpetrator was not yet clear, the spokesman said. Investigators were looking at the possibility that other suspects fled the scene, though they had no evidence this was the case, he added.

“It is far too early to speak of an attack,” he said.

The police spokeswoman said: “The danger is over.”

The incident came one year to the day after a truck attack in Stockholm that killed five people, and also evoked memories of a December 2016 truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 people.

Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck on Dec. 19, 2016, killed the driver and then ploughed it into a crowded marketplace, killing 11 more people and injuring dozens of others.

“I am shocked by the news from Muenster,” said Andrea Nahles, parliamentary leader of the Social Democrats, junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.

“My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives,” she added. “I hope that our authorities can quickly clarify the background to this incident and wish the local forces much strength for their work.”</s>Three people are dead and many more injured after a van rammed into a crowd of people outside a restaurant in Münster, Germany on Saturday afternoon. The driver shot and killed himself while still in the car after the crash, and his suicide led police to treat the incident as a terrorist attack, but it was later revealed that terrorism may not have been the driver’s motive.

It was subsequently reported that the driver was a 48-year-old German citizen with a history of mental illness. Germany’s interior minister has announced that there is no evidence that the Münster man, who apparently worked as graphic designer, had any links to Islamist terrorism.

At least 20 people were also hurt in the crash, including six with life-threatening injuries. So far, three people have been confirmed dead, which includes the driver. Police had earlier reported that four people had died during the incident, but later corrected the total.

After police found a package with wires inside the vehicle, the area was evacuated a while the bomb squad was brought in to investigate. The driver’s apartment has apparently been searched for explosives, as well.

Police also investigated witness reports that two additional perpetrators may have fled the vehicle after it crashed, but those reports do not appear to have been confirmed, leaving the driver as the sole suspect.

The incident happened just before 3:30 p.m. in a cobblestone plaza outside the Kiepenkerl bar in the city’s popular old town. Images of the aftermath showed that the van had smashed through at least several cafe tables before coming to a stop. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the vehicle approach the site at high speed.

Saturday was the warmest day of the year so far in the city, so it is likely that the pedestrian area, which is filled with cafes and shops, was very crowded.

Special forces personnel were deployed in Münster’s city center following the incident, and police have asked people to avoid the area, stay in their homes, and have repeatedly warned against spreading rumors.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a statement on Saturday thanking the first responders and explaining that “everything conceivable is being done to investigate the crime and to support the victims and their relatives.”

Though the motive of this driver remains unclear, the Münster incident follows numerous terrorist attacks that have weaponized vehicles throughout Europe over the past three years. The last such ramming attack in Germany happened in December of 2016, when a Tunisian man who had pledged allegiance to ISIS drove a stolen tractor trailer into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin. 12 people were killed in that attack. Saturday’s incident also comes approximately one year after a vehicle ramming attack killed four people in Stockholm, Sweden. An additional 34 people were killed in vehicle attacks which struck London, Barcelona, and New York last year.

Below are images of the aftermath in Münster that have been shared on social media:

This is a breaking news story and this post has been continuously updated to reflect new information, and has been reframed to include the confusion over the driver’s motive.</s>MUENSTER, Germany (Reuters) - A man drove a van into a group of people sitting outside a popular restaurant in the old city centre of Muenster in western Germany on Saturday, killing at least two of them before shooting himself dead, police said.

The vehicle ploughed into people sitting at tables outside the Grosser Kiepenkerl restaurant, which is popular with tourists.

“At 15:27 (1327 GMT), a vehicle drove into the outside area of the restaurant ... three people were killed, 20 injured, and six of those seriously injured,” police spokesman Andreas Bode said, adding: “The perpetrator killed himself in the vehicle.”

It was not immediately clear whether the perpetrator was among the three killed, or whether his death took the number of dead to four. A police spokeswoman said separately that there were at least three people dead.

A security source said the perpetrator was probably German.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the man was a German with psychological problems who had no terrorist background. The Interior Ministry in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, home to Muenster, would neither confirm nor deny the report.

Bode said the identity of the perpetrator was not yet clear. Investigators were looking at the possibility that other suspects fled the scene, though they had no evidence that this was the case, he added.

“It is far too early to speak of an attack,” Bode said. “We have cordoned off the area widely. The crime scene investigators are checking out the crime scene, trying to identify, investigate and secure traces. That is our current task.”

The police spokeswoman said: “The danger is over.”

The incident came one year to the day after a truck attack in Stockholm that killed five people.

It also evoked memories of a December 2016 truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 people. In that attack, Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck, killed the driver and then ploughed into a crowded marketplace, killing 11 more people and injuring dozens of others.

“I am shocked by the news from Muenster,” said Andrea Nahles, parliamentary leader of the Social Democrats, junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.

“My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives,” she added. “I hope that our authorities can quickly clarify the background to this incident and wish the local forces much strength for their work.”

Government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer tweeted: “Awful news from Muenster. Our thoughts are with the victims and their relatives.”
A man drives a van into a group of people in Münster, Germany, killing two and injuring 30. The driver then shoots and kills himself.