Officials reveal the German Christmas market victims include a nine-year-old child and four adults, as charges of murder and attempted murder are prepared

Four adults and a nine-year-old child were killed in a horrific attack on a Christmas market in Germany.

Officials confirmed that at least five people died after a car rammed a dark-colored BMW into a huge crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg around 7 p.m. on December 20.

At least 205 people were also injured in the massacre, while the suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, has since been arrested.

Prosecutor Horst Nopens said he was being investigated on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. He is currently being questioned.

Several German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A., although his last name was withheld for privacy reasons, and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.

He has lived in Germany since arriving in the country in 2006 a refugee from Saudi Arabia, According to official information, he practiced as a doctor in Bernburg, about 40 km south of Magdeburg.

The country is in mourning after Friday’s attack. Locals placed candles and memorial plaques at the spot where the car drove into a crowd.

The motive for the attack remains unclear at this time, although officials said the suspect’s anger over the treatment of Saudi refugees in Germany may have been a factor.

Firefighters patrol the scene of the accident on Friday after a car rammed into a huge crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg around 7 p.m

Debris and closed stalls can be seen at the site of a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Saturday

The director of the Magdeburg Police Department, Tom-Oliver Langhans, pictured during a press conference on Saturday where officials announced that four adults and a nine-year-old child were killed in a horrific attack

People stand next to candles and gifts near the spot where a car drove into a crowd at a Magdeburg Christmas market

The country is in mourning after Friday’s attack. Locals placed candles and memorial plaques at the spot where a car drove into a crowd

Stuffed animals, candles and floral gifts lie near the spot where a car drove into a crowd at a Magdeburg Christmas market

At a news conference on Saturday, officials said 205 people were injured in the attack, 41 of whom were seriously injured.

Neurosurgeon Mahmoud Elenbaby said around 80 patients were admitted to the Magdeburg University Hospital on Friday evening.

The suspect is currently being questioned by police and is believed to have been working alone, he added.

The suspect described himself as a former Muslim and shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily that focused on Islamophobic themes, criticized religion and congratulated Muslims who had given up the faith.

He also accused German authorities of not doing enough to combat what he called the “Islamism of Europe.”

Mourners lit candles and laid flowers outside a church near the market on the cold and dreary day. Several people stopped and cried.

A Berlin church choir, whose members witnessed an earlier Christmas market attack in 2016, sang “Amazing Grace,” a hymn about God’s mercy, expressing their prayers and solidarity with the victims.

Chancellor Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser traveled to Magdeburg on Saturday, and a funeral service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening.

Several German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A (pictured) and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy

Mourners lit candles and laid flowers outside a church near the market on the cold and dreary day

Debris and empty stalls can be seen at a closed Christmas market one day after a car attack in Magdeburg

Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits the spot where a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg

Police officers secure the area during the Chancellor’s visit to the scene of a vehicle ramming attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg

The violence shocked Germany and the city, bringing the mayor to the brink of tears and wiping out a festive event that is part of a centuries-old German tradition.

This prompted several other German cities to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precautionary measure and in solidarity with the loss of Magdeburg.

German officials said emergency services received their first call about the attack at 7:02 p.m. local time and brought the situation under control at 7:05 p.m.

Verified passerby footage distributed by the German Press Agency dpa showed the suspect being arrested at a tram stop in the middle of the street.

A nearby police officer, pointing a gun at the man, shouted at him as he lay on his stomach with his head raised slightly. Additional officers surrounded the suspect and took him into custody.