by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:00 PM ET, Tue December 20, 2016
On Tuesday, authorities in Germany identified a suspect in Monday's truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin as a migrant from Pakistan who entered the country last year and applied for asylum.
Officials revealed that it was still unclear if he was the main perpetrator.
According to NBCNews.com, authorities said the suspect was arrested a short distance from the where the attack took place, which left 12 people dead and wounded nearly 50 others. Local media outlets are reporting the man is 23 years old and was known to police for minor offenses.
The suspect has denied any responsibility for the attack, and Berlin police chief Klaus Kandt told reporters, "We are not sure if the suspect in custody is the right man...in fact, in my view, it is still not certain whether he really was the driver."
"We must get used to the idea that he was possibly not the perpetrator or that he didn't belong to the group of perpetrators," Germany chief prosecutor Peter Frank said in a statement. "We do not know if there were more people involved in a support role."
Inside the cab of the truck, was a Polish man who was shot to death and bloodstained clothing, but the suspect captured was wearing clean clothes.
Authorities revealed that they believe the truck was "intentionally directed" into a crowd at a Christmas market in the Breitscheidplatz public square. The incident is being considered an act of "probable terrorism."
On Tuesday, United States President Barack Obama spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and pledged the country's full support during the investigation. As a result of the incident, Christmas markets in Berlin were closed Tuesday.
The truck attack Monday is similar to an attack which took place in Nice, France, in July. In that act of terrorism, 84 people were killed and more than 200 injured before police shot the suspect to death inside the cab of the truck.
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