A suspected supporter of the Islamic State terror group has been arrested in Germany for allegedly trying to cause fatal crashes on a motorway by shooting at cars with an air rifle, prosecutors say.
The 21-year-old suspect, a Turkish national who has not been named, “intended to kill ‘unbelievers’ through the series of attacks,” the public prosecutor’s office in the southern city of Munich says in a press statement.
Authorities believe the man fired a commercially available air rifle at a total of 22 “randomly selected vehicles” on the motorway near the Bavarian town of Dillingen an der Donau from September 9 to 11.
He allegedly hoped to trigger fatal accidents, and is now facing 22 counts of attempted murder, prosecutors say.
No one was injured in the incidents and none of the cars crashed, although prosecutors said some vehicles were damaged.
The man was arrested near the scene of the shootings while carrying an air rifle fitted with a scope on September 13.
Prosecutors said the suspect has remained in custody since his arrest.
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