The suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi psychiatrist named Taleb A., has lived in Germany for nearly 20 years. Authorities are investigating the motives behind the attack, which remain unclear. View on euron

The suspect has been identified in local media reports as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, the BBC understands. He is a 50-year-old psychiatrist who lives in Bernburg, around 40km (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.

Despite the suspect's many statements expressing hostility to Islam, the head of the AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt, Martin Reichardt, said in a statement "the attack in Magdeburg shows that Germany is being drawn into political and religious fanaticism that has its origins in another world".