Who was Abdul B? Berlin Pride terror attack suspect known as Islamic State sympathizer

A suspect in the Berlin Pride attack was shot dead in a police operation on Sunday, Berlin police said. One person died and 29 others were injured after a van plowed into a crowd near Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day Pride event in the Tiergarten park on Saturday night.

In a post on X on Sunday, police said they located the suspect in a garden plot in Spandau on the western outskirts of the city around 6:00 p.m. local time.

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Police shot the suspect after he attacked officers armed with a stabbing weapon, according to the statement.

“Around 18:00, the suspect from yesterday’s attack in the Grosser Tiergarten was in a garden facility in #Spandau. According to current findings, he allegedly lunged at our response forces with a stabbing weapon, after which our SEK Berlin used police firearms. Despite the immediate resuscitation measures initiated by the Berlin firefighters,” read the post on the scene of the Berlin firefighters.

Read also | German media say the suspect in the Berlin Pride attack was a supporter of Islamic State

The Berlin police immediately launched a search for the suspect after the incident.

The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a man known to law enforcement and linked to the Islamist spectrum, according to official statements released earlier by Berlin police and prosecutors.

What do we know about Abdul B?

Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, allegedly drove a white van into pedestrians on the outskirts of Berlin’s Christopher Street Day event late Saturday night. He allegedly attacked people with a machete after driving his van into the crowd.

Authorities said earlier Sunday that the suspect was a known Islamic State sympathizer who tried to join the jihadist military organization in 2025 before being taken into custody in Lebanon, according to Bloomberg.

His mother was reportedly naturalized in 2002, three years before his birth.

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The suspect was said to be slim and about 1.90 meters tall. He has family in Berlin and was released from an institution for young offenders in May 2026, DPA said.

Abdul B. has come to the attention of the authorities in the past with reference to a “high level of criminality”, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.

The striker was born in Germany in 2005. He is also of Lebanese origin.

Abdul sentenced for ties to Islamic extremism

According to the Associated Press, Ballout traveled to Lebanon in 2025 with the goal of going to Syria to join the Islamic State group, Berlin prosecutors said Sunday.

There, he made contact with several people who were suspected members of the militant group — or at least believed they were, prosecutors said.

He was arrested in Lebanon last year and sentenced by a military court to three months in prison for crimes including inciting religious and sectarian conflict.

After completing his sentence, he returned to Germany, where he was arrested at the Berlin airport.

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In May, a juvenile court in Berlin convicted Ballout of preparing a serious act of violence to threaten the state, as well as posting Islamic State propaganda on his Instagram account and other charges, prosecutors said, according to the AP.

The court imposed a suspended sentence of 1 year and 10 months in juvenile detention, which Berlin prosecutors appealed.

The court said it took into account the months Ballout spent in pre-trial detention in Germany and Lebanon.

She also said she believed Ballout confessed to the crimes, appeared to distance himself from the militant group, and no real threat ever materialized.

He was released from custody until further notice.

Anna SchecterCBS News journalist, published a timeline of Abdul’s sentencing as of 2019. According to her, the timeline is as follows:

2019: The police have known about Abdul B for at least 7 years. In 2019, he was found guilty of assaulting the victim in the schoolyard of Berlin High School.

2022: Abdul B was convicted of assault and extortion with intent to rob by the local Tiergarten Court – a youth court for lay judges – and had a youth court order issued against him.

2024: Prosecutors say he posted banned ISIS propaganda on his Instagram account on June 16 and 24, 2024

2025: Prosecutors say Abdul B has demonstrated a desire to join ISIS in 2025. On May 12, 2026, Abdul B. was sentenced to a juvenile prison term of one year and ten months for preparing a serious act of violence to threaten the state and two counts of violating an enforceable prohibition under the Association Act.

2026: On May 12, 2026, the Tiergarten Local Court – the Juvenile Court – sentenced Abdul B. in proceedings initiated by the Berlin General Prosecutor’s Office to a juvenile sentence of one year and ten months for one count of preparing a serious act of violence threatening the state and two counts of violating an enforceable ban under the Association Act.

2026: separate investigation: July 3, 2026 at his residence in Berlin-Schöneberg. The search raised the initial suspicion of a violation of the weapons law. However, only a toy was found during the search, so the case was subsequently dismissed.