Initial assessments of evidence seized from electronic devices belonging to the suspect showed a “certain Islamist orientation”, police spokesman Guido Limmer told reporters.
After the incident, the suspect uttered the words “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) to police officers and also prayed after his arrest, prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann added.
The 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, identified by German media as Farhad N., is accused of deliberately driving a Mini Cooper car into a trade union demonstration in Munich on Thursday in what German leaders described as an “attack”.
A total of 36 people were injured in the incident, Limmer told reporters, with two in a critical condition, including a child.
A further eight of the injured were in a serious condition, Limmer said.
The carnage came on the eve of an international security conference in the Bavarian city and amid a heated debate in Germany on immigration ahead of February 23 elections following similar attacks.
Tilmann said the suspect had confessed to deliberately ramming the car into the crowd, citing “what I would summarise as a religious motivation”.
Farhad N. was living in Germany legally, worked in security and was also heavily involved in fitness and bodybuilding, Tilmann said.
He was “very religious and also displayed this outwardly”, regularly attending a mosque and making online “posts with religious references”, she added.
However, “we have no evidence to suggest that the accused is involved in any Islamist organisation such as Islamic State”, Tilmann said.
