Once again, a driver has plowed into a crowd of innocent pedestrians, turning a car into a deadly weapon.
“Steal a lorry or a car and then drive it into a crowd, ” former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted after an April attack in Stockholm. “That seems to be the latest terrorist method.”
Here’s a look at some recent similar attacks and the motives behind them:
Barcelona, Spain
Date of attack: August 17,2017
Number of casualties: At least one person was killed and seven were hospitalized in serious condition, the Catalona government said shortly after the incident.
What happened: A witness told state-run TVE24 that he saw a van driving “around 80 kilometers” per hour. He said “there is no doubt it was intentional.”
Why it happened: Barcelona police have confirmed the crash was a terror attack.
Charlottesville, Virginia
Date of attack: August 12,2017
Number of casualties: A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 people were injured.
What happened: A gray Dodge Challenger rammed into the back of a silver convertible on a narrow side street crowded with protesters in downtown Charlottesville. The Dodge driver slammed the car in reverse, going back up the street at a high rate of speed, dragging its front bumper.
The incident took place as rallies drew white nationalists and right-wing activists from across the country to the progressive college town.
Why it happened: Authorities have not announced a motive, but the suspect, James Alex Fields Jr., faces charges including second-degree murder. Investigators have not said whether they believe it was an act of terrorism.
Fields’ mother told CNN affiliate Toledo Blade that she knew her son was going to an “alt-right” rally, but said she was stunned to learn her son is suspected in a deadly attack.
London (London Bridge)
Date of attack: June 3,2017
Number of casualties: Eight people were killed and more than 40 were wounded.
What happened: Three men drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before going on a stabbing rampage at bars at nearby Borough Market. They were shot dead by police.
Inside the van, police found two blowtorches as well as what appeared to be 13 Molotov cocktails. The van also had office chairs and a suitcase. Police believe the attackers told relatives they were using it to move.
Why it happened: Police named the attackers as Khuram Shazad Butt, 27; Rachid Redouane, 30; and Youssef Zaghba, 22.
Butt is believed to have associated with the outlawed radical Islamist group al-Muhajiroun, co-founded by notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary. Counter-terrorism sources told CNN he was considered a potential threat to British security and was still under active investigation at the time he carried out the deadly assault.
In a raid of an east London apartment rented by Redouane, police found an English-language copy of the Koran opened at a page describing martyrdom and materials that may have been used to make the Molotov cocktails.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, although the group provided no evidence for its involvement or details of the attack.
Stockholm, Sweden
Date of attack: April 7,2017
Number of casualties: Four people were killed and 15 injured, Stockholm County Council said.
What happened: A stolen beer truck barreled into pedestrians on a busy shopping street in the center of the Swedish capital before it plowed into a department store. Sweden stepped up its security. National counterterrorism, bomb and air assets also provided support.
Why it happened: The attacker, Rakhmat Akilov, had shown sympathies to extremist groups, including ISIS, Swedish police said. Akilov, 39, was from the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan. He admitted to carrying out a “terrorist crime, ” his lawyer said.
London (Westminster Bridge)
Date of attack: March 22,2017
Number of casualties: Five people died in the attack, including an American man and an unarmed police officer, and scores of others were injured.
What happened: Police say an assailant rammed his rental car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, not far from the UK Parliament. The suspect then entered Parliament grounds and fatally stabbed a police officer before being shot dead by other officers.
Why it happened: The attacker, identified as 52-year-old British man Khalid Masood, acted alone and was inspired by international terrorism, officials said.
He had been convicted on a string of violent crimes and weapons charges, but officials said they weren’t sure how he became radicalized.
“Clearly that’s the main line of our investigation — is what led him to be radicalized, ” said Mark Rowley, Britain’s top counterterrorism officer. “Was it through influences in a community, influences from overseas or through online propaganda?”
Nice, France
Date of attack: July 14,2016
Number of casualties: 84 people killed, more than 200 wounded
What happened: Authorities say Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel used a 20-ton truck to strike hundreds of people in Nice, where large crowds gathered to watch Bastille Day fireworks.
After the truck barreled through the crowd for almost a mile, police shot and killed Bouhlel.
Why it happened: ISIS said the attack was retaliation for France’s role in the fight against ISIS.
“The person who carried out the run-over in Nice, France, is one of the Islamic State soldiers and carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition which is fighting the Islamic State, ” the terror group said in a statement.
But French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Bouhlel had no record of making militant statements and was not believed to be a member of ISIS.
“It seems he became radicalized very quickly, ” Cazeneuve said.
Berlin, Germany
Date of attack: December 19,2016
Number of casualties: 12 people killed, at least 48 wounded
What happened: A tractor-trailer rammed into a crowd at a bustling Christmas market, which was filled with holiday shoppers. The suspect, Anis Amri, was killed later in a shootout with police in Italy.
Why it happened: A video showed Amri pledging allegiance to ISIS, and the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said the attack was carried out by “a soldier of the Islamic State” to target citizens of countries fighting ISIS.
But CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said ISIS often uses that kind of terminology to refer to attacks by alleged sympathizers in the West.
“This should not be taken to mean the group is claiming it directed this attack, ” Cruickshank said.
Columbus, Ohio
Date of attack: November 28,2016
Number of casualties: 11 people wounded
What happened: Abdul Razak Ali Artan, an Ohio State University student, rammed his car into a group of pedestrians on the campus. He got out and lunged at passers-by with a knife.
Moments later, an Ohio State University police officer fatally shot Artan after he refused to stop.
Why it happened: Authorities said they believe Artan was inspired by terrorist propaganda from ISIS and the late Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, two law enforcement sources said.
In a Facebook post shortly before the rampage, the Somali immigrant said he was “sick and tired” of seeing fellow Muslims “killed and tortured, ” federal law enforcement officials said.
