After an assailant driving an S.U.V. killed five people, calls for solidarity have quickly given way to criticism by rival lawmakers, ahead of snap elections set for February.

The Berlin Borough police chief said they would have acted on the warning from Germany if they'd been aware of it.

Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, had expressed anti-Islamic views and described himself as a Saudi dissident, an official said.