According to security circles cited by the paper, Abdul’s father is said to be homosexual and reportedly lives in Berlin with his partner. The 21-year-old attacker, who was shot dead by police a day after the attack, grew up with his sisters at their mother’s home, where all were devoutly religious. Authorities are said to have had Ballout on their radar from early on, but the parents did not cooperate. He moved within the Salafist scene and at times belonged to a Salafist group that went door to door recruiting followers. The senator noted that Berlin houses about 1,250 people connected to the Salafist scene, of whom around 350 are violence-prone.