Berlin police have issued a stark warning that the capital’s escalating gun violence now feels like “Groundhog Day,” after another late-night shooting left a man injured in the Schöneberg district.
Officers were called to Eberstrasse shortly before midnight on Sunday after multiple shots were fired, to find a victim collapsed in the street. The suspects fled the scene, and a manhunt for the perpetrators is ongoing.
According to Bild, an eyewitness reported hearing four gunshots before seeing a man dressed in black run from the scene and enter a waiting BMW, which then sped away.
The victim is believed to be a German-Moroccan man. He was struck by at least one bullet and sustained a gunshot wound to the buttocks. Police said his injuries are not life-threatening.
Authorities have not yet established a motive.
Benjamin Jendro, spokesman for the Berlin police union (GdP), said the incident reflects a broader pattern of escalating gun violence.
“It’s like Groundhog Day,” he said. “Hardly a night goes by that someone doesn’t resort to a firearm.”
Jendro called for stronger measures to combat the trend, including expanded video surveillance, improved investigative technology, and action to curb illegal arms trafficking.
The shooting is the latest in a series of violent incidents across Berlin in recent weeks. On March 20, a young man linked to a Lebanese gang was shot in the Graefekiez district.
Authorities say the rise in shootings is increasingly linked to organized criminal networks, many with migrant backgrounds, that are expanding their operations in the city.
Investigations cited by broadcaster RBB’s Kontraste program point to a group known as the “Daltons,” a network with origins in Turkey that prosecutors believe is gaining a foothold in Berlin.
Around 200 investigations are currently underway in connection with the group and similar networks.
According to investigators, the group recruits asylum seekers, offering financial incentives before using them to carry out shootings, extortion, and other violent acts.
Businesses, particularly within the Turkish-Kurdish community, have been targeted with protection demands that can reach six-figure sums. Those who refuse have faced retaliatory attacks.
One supermarket chain was reportedly threatened with a €250,000 demand before two of its locations were shot at. In another case, a man was shot multiple times in the legs, while a bar in Kreuzberg was targeted with a hand grenade.
Berlin’s justice senator Felor Badenberg said the pattern amounts to systematic intimidation.
“We are seeing a surge in crimes against shop owners from the Turkish-Kurdish cultural sphere,” she said. “They are being pressured, intimidated, and in some cases, weapons are being used. The aim is to force them to pay protection money.”
Authorities believe tensions within Berlin’s criminal underworld have intensified following the death earlier this year of a prominent figure known as “Kurdish Mehmet,” whose influence had helped maintain a degree of stability.
“All hell is breaking loose in Berlin now,” one anonymous gang member told German media earlier this month. “Everyone wants to make a name for themselves.”
Berlin police president Barbara Slowik Meisel said the international dimension of these networks presents a significant challenge.
“We are dealing with structures that operate across several countries and recruit internationally,” she said.
