The police are investigating security and warnings

German authorities are facing public grief and anger in Magdeburg after an attacker used an emergency vehicle access lane to drive into a Christmas market, killing five people and injuring more than 200.

On a visit on Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, ministers and regional political leaders were hemmed in by members of the public, some apparently outraged by what was criticized as a security breach.

The German authorities have defended the layout and safety of the market.

Authorities are also facing questions after reports that they were alerted to the suspect last year, with police saying they had conducted an evaluation of whether the suspect could be a potential threat a year ago.

The suspect has has been ordered into custody on charges of murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.

Usually at this time of year, German city centers are full of shoppers and revelers drinking mulled wine, but this year the mood is very different.

The main Christmas market is cordoned off and surrounded by police vans, while armed officers patrol the shops and shopping centers nearby.

There is sadness in the air in Magdeburg, as well as confusion and anger as people ask how this could have happened.

When Scholz and his colleagues walked out of the cordoned-off market during their visit on Saturday, they were met with boos and jeers and shouts of “hau ab”, an extremely aggressive form of “get lost”.

Some people seemed outraged by a perceived drop in security. Others simply seemed irritated and generally annoyed with Germany’s political leaders.

Security has been increased at Christmas markets across Germany since a similar attack in Berlin in 2016, when a man drove a truck into a crowd at the market, killing 12 people.

Open Christmas markets now have some kind of barrier around them – typically large concrete blocks, which is the case in Magdeburg.

However, the gap in the barriers was large enough to allow emergency vehicles to pass through.

City official Ronni Krug told reporters at a press conference Saturday that emergency workers needed an evacuation route in the event of a “conventional” emergency and all the relevant agencies approved the plan.

“A safety concept must, on the one hand, protect those who visit an event as much as possible, but must also ensure that, if something happens, they can leave the site safely and quickly.” , he said.

“Maybe it’s something that couldn’t have been prevented,” he added.

German media reported that prior to the attack there had been warnings of a potential threat from the suspect.

The suspect, a doctor from Saudi Arabia named Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, arrived in Germany in 2006 and was recognized as a refugee in 2016.

An atheist, he ran a website aimed at helping other ex-Muslims fleeing persecution in their Gulf homelands. His social media was full of anti-Islamic sentiments and conspiracy theories.

At Saturday’s press conference, Magdeburg police chief Tom-Oliver Langhans said the police had made an evaluation of whether the suspect could be a potential threat, “but that discussion was a year ago”.

He added that investigations into the suspect’s past were ongoing and declined to comment further.

One of those tips is believed to come from Saudi Arabia, the suspect’s home country.

A source close to the Saudi government told the BBC it sent four official notifications known as “Notes Verbal” to German authorities warning them of what they said were “the very extreme views” held by al-Abdulmohsen.

However, a counter-terrorism expert told the BBC that the Saudis may have launched a disinformation campaign to discredit someone who tried to help young Saudi women seek asylum in Germany.

On Saturday, Langhans said he had no information when asked about Saudi Arabia issuing warnings.

Later, the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, told public broadcaster ZDF that his office had received a notification from Saudi Arabia in November 2023. He said that the local police took appropriate investigative measures, but the case was nonspecific.

He added that the suspect “had various contacts with the authorities, insulted them and even made threats, but he was not known for violent acts”.

Previous investigations had to be revisited, Münch said.