Smiling and relaxed, this appears to be the moment Taleb Al Abdulmohsen waltzed into a snack bar just 24 hours before his alleged killing spree.
The 50-year-old doctor can be seen casually strolling into the Saale Grill, just steps from his home, and grabbing a beer from the fridge on Thursday evening in the city of Bernburg.
The next day he is accused of driving his rented BMW into hundreds of innocent people enjoying a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, about 50 kilometers away.
The takeaway owner told MailOnline that the alleged killer looked relaxed and happy when he walked in at around 8pm but was distracted by his mobile phone.
Yaser Al-Alo said the doctor from Saudi Arabia was a regular customer who enjoyed beer and visited the store as many as four times a week.
‘He came to eat with us very often. I recognized his face, but I had no personal contact with him. He always came to eat, wanted to stay alone and didn’t talk much.’
The father of three said he almost immediately identified him as the man arrested at the scene of the tragedy on Friday evening after seeing photos on social media.
“The morning after the attack I was on TikTok and was shocked that I knew him,” he said.
Smiling and relaxed, this appears to be the moment Taleb Al Abdulmohsen waltzed into a snack bar just 24 hours before his alleged killing spree
The 50-year-old doctor is photographed casually strolling into the Saale Grill and grabbing a beer from the fridge on Thursday, near his home in the city of Bernburg.
Police arrested an ‘unstable’ 50-year-old Saudi doctor, identified as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, after he allegedly rammed his SUV into a crowded market in the city of Magdeburg
Four women aged 45 to 75 and nine-year-old André Gleißner (photo) were killed
“Then I went to the store and checked the security camera. It was on December 19, around 8 p.m.
‘That day he seemed completely normal. As always, I didn’t notice anything different. He was also on his phone all the time.”
The owner said the doctor stayed for almost two hours and left just minutes before closing at 10 p.m.
While there he drank Becks Green Lemon and ate scampi and flatbread.
He said that although he saw the suspect often, their interactions were always limited to polite greetings.
The businessman added: ‘He always took the drinks from the fridge himself. He was always on his phone.
Police officers secure the area during the German Chancellor’s visit to the site of a car ram attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg
A woman holds a candle as others watch a prayer ceremony outside Magdeburg Cathedral, the day after the devastating attack
People lay flowers at a makeshift memorial near the site of a car ram attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg
‘Once I asked him where he came from. He said he was Arab, but wouldn’t say which country.’
The alleged killer lived just a few blocks away in a modern apartment building where police yesterday removed several boxes of evidence.
He is accused of killing five people – including a nine-year-old boy – and injuring as many as 200 others by driving his car into visitors enjoying the Christmas market.