A suspect in the Berlin Pride attack was shot dead by the police

In a statement to reporters on Sunday, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the evidence indicated that it was a “terrorist attack by followers of the Islamic faith.”

“We are dealing with a suspected criminal who has previously drawn attention to himself for high-profile crimes, extremism and links to the Islamist scene,” Dobrindt said.

A statement released by Berlin’s public prosecutor’s office revealed more details about Ballout’s criminal history.

In May 2025, he traveled to Lebanon via Turkey with the intention of joining the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria, prosecutors said. While in Lebanon, he is said to have been in contact with several individuals he believed to be ISIS members.

He was arrested in Lebanon in July 2025 and sentenced to three months in prison due to religious and sectarian conflict.

He then returned to Germany in November 2025, where he was arrested at Berlin Brandenburg Airport and held in pre-trial detention.

In May this year, he was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for “preparing a serious act of violence to endanger the government”. The decision was delayed for six months and placed under the supervision of a parole officer.

He was previously charged with assault and burglary in 2022 and robbery with headphones in 2020.