Vehicle Rammings: Heidelberg & New Orleans

On February 25, 2017, a car and pickup truck rammings occurred in Germany and the United States.

Three people have been injured in the German city of Heidelberg after a man drove a car into a pedestrian area, in the central square named Bismarckplatz. The attacker drove what is thought to be a rental car into pedestrians in front of a bakery, hitting three, one of whom died. The dead man was a 73-year-old German. The two injured people were a 32-year-old Austrian national and a 29-year-old Bosnian woman, police said. Their injuries are said to be minor and they have been discharged from hospital.

The suspect jumped from the car, ran down the street, armed with a knife. He was tracked down and shot by police near an old swimming pool, after a brief standoff.

The attacker was injured and said to be a 35-year-old German man with no immigration history.

His motives are unclear, but terrorism is not suspected and he is thought to have acted alone, police say. Police were unable to confirm local media reports that the attacker was mentally disturbed. Some witnesses claim to have heard "Allahu Akbar."

Also, today in New Orleans...

Twenty-one people were injured Saturday night (Feb. 25) when a suspected drunken driver crashed a pickup truck into spectators at the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans, police said. The crash was reported at about 6:45 p.m. at North Carrollton and Orleans avenues.

"He took out rows of people," witness Greg McNeely said.

Officials said 28 people, including a police officer and a child, were taken to seven hospitals. Five were in critical condition. Seven declined treatment.

Neilson Rizzuto's booking photograph.

Update: The suspect is said to be 25-year-old Neilson Rizzuto. His name was given in the daily Major Offense log.

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On December 19, 2016, an Islamist attacker drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 49. 

The 2016 Bastille day truck ramming attack in Nice killed scores.

Santas Attack Istanbul's Reina

In French and Spanish, the meaning of the name Reina is "Queen." Is this predictive of another Queen to be involved in the news?

An ambulance arrives at the Reina club to take away the injured.

At least 39 people have been killed in a gun attack at a famous nightclub in Istanbul during New Year's Eve celebrations, 31 December 2016.

Two attackers were reportedly dressed in Santa costumes, witnesses told CNN Turk, when they opened fire in the Reina club in the Ortakoy area of the city. (Disputed reports are flying that it was only one Santa or there were no Santas. Stay tuned.)

One civilian and one police officer were killed and several wounded, NTV reported.

There were reportedly several hundred people in the club, which is among the city's glitziest nightspots.

Police cordoned off the area about 2 miles away from the nightclub as multiple ambulances rushed to the scene.

Security measures had been heightened in major Turkish cities, with police barring traffic leading up to key squares in Istanbul and the capital Ankara. In Istanbul, 17,000 police officers were put on duty, some camouflaged as Santa Claus and others as street vendors, Anadolu reported.

Rescue workers stand near the Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, December 19, 2016, after a truck crashes into a crowd.

"112" is the European emergency number people in distress call 24h/24 and 7d/7 in all 27 member states of the European Union to get immediate assistance from the fire brigade, a medical team or the police. You can call the number 112 with a fixed or mobile phone. The European emergency number is free everywhere.