Stopped driver on the rampage

Cab driver: “I’m a Muslim, not a hero!”

Taxi driver Muhammad A. stopped the Mannheim maniac on Shrove Monday.(Bild: APA/AFP/THOMAS LOHNES)

Not only in Villach, but also in Mannheim, a courageous witness stopped a man driving amok. For the cab driver, this was "a matter of course". He wanted to protect his fellow human beings, he said during an interview with Mannheim's mayor.

Many are celebrating him as a hero, but he himself firmly rejects this: A. Muhammad, a cab driver from Mannheim, had stopped the man who had driven amok through the city in his car on Rose Monday, killing two people and injuring many more. According to his own statement, he had followed the 40-year-old German in his cab, honked his horn, warned passers-by with the window open and finally stopped the driver.

When he saw the gun the gunman was carrying, the taxi driver fled at first. But fearing that the perpetrator might continue his rampage in the cab, he bravely ran back. It was only discovered after the arrest that the gun had been a blank-firing weapon.

Here you can see a picture of A. Muhammad and Mayor Christian Specht.

Wanted to set an example against hate
"I am not a hero. I am a Muslim," said A. Muhammad, who does not want his first name to appear in the media, during a conversation with Mayor Christian Specht. It was natural for him to intervene and protect his fellow human beings. The member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, who comes from Pakistan, said that his actions were motivated by religion. Muhammad said that he also wanted to send a signal against hatred with his statement. And to campaign for Mannheim to preserve openness and tolerance.

Muhammad has lived in Mannheim for 15 years. He has been a German citizen since 2017. He is a cab driver, a family man and a Mannheim resident, said Muhammad. The city has given him a lot. He had brief health problems after the incident. Now he is better again. He wants to return to his normal life and continue to be there for people as a taxi driver.