The suspect was ordered held in pre-trial custody on charges of murder, attempted murder and causing dangerous bodily harm.
Usually at this time of year Germany’s city centers are packed with mulled wine-sipping shoppers and revelers, but this year the mood is very different.
The main Christmas market has been cordoned off with tape and surrounded by police cars while armed officers patrol nearby shops and shopping malls.
There is sadness, dismay and anger in Magdeburg as people ask how this could have happened.
As Scholz and his colleagues walked out of the cordoned-off market during their visit on Saturday, they were met with jeers, boos and shouts of “hau ab”, an extremely aggressive form of “get lost”.
Some people seemed angry at what they perceived as lax security. Others simply seemed irritated and annoyed with Germany’s political leaders.
Security has been tightened at Christmas markets across Germany following a similar attack in Berlin in 2016, when a man drove a truck into a market crowd, killing 12 people.
The open Christmas market now has a barrier of sorts around it. Typically in Magdeburg there are large concrete blocks.
However, the gap in the barrier was large enough for emergency vehicles to pass through.
City official Ronni Krug told reporters at a press conference Saturday that emergency responders would need an evacuation route in the event of an “existing” emergency and that all relevant agencies had approved the plan.
“Safety and security concepts should provide maximum protection for those visiting an event, but at the same time ensure that if something happens they can leave the site safely and quickly.” , he said.
He added, “I think it was probably something that couldn’t have been prevented.”
German media reported that there had been warnings from the suspect about a potential threat before the attack.
