Christian Brueckner, the convicted sex offender identified as the primary suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, allegedly assaulted police officers outside a supermarket in Kiel, northern Germany, on June 6. The incident occurred after Brueckner reportedly took photographs of the officers with his cell phone.
A spokeswoman for the Kiel police told Der Spiegel that a "physical assault or act of resistance against law enforcement officers occurred" during the intervention. One officer sustained a knee injury, and Brueckner is under investigation for taking the photographs.
Brueckner's lawyer, Philipp Marquort, dismissed the allegations, stating the photo was taken from a significant distance and was "unproblematic." He characterized the police action as "persecution of innocent people."
Brueckner, 49, was released from a German prison in September of the previous year, having served a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of an American woman in Portugal. Following his release, he reportedly faced verbal abuse and threats from residents in Neumünster, where he was initially housed. He subsequently moved to Braunschweig in an unsuccessful attempt to confront prosecutors involved in the McCann case before settling in Kiel.
German authorities named Brueckner as a suspect in McCann's disappearance in 2020. Madeleine McCann vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, at the age of three. Her parents were dining nearby at the time of her disappearance.
In April 2022, Portuguese prosecutors formally designated Brueckner as an "arguido," a Portuguese term for suspect, though he was not formally charged. In a separate case in 2024, Brueckner was acquitted of three rape charges and two counts of child sexual abuse allegedly occurring in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Brueckner has not agreed to interviews with British police investigating the case, known as Operation Grange. London's Metropolitan Police stated they continue to cooperate with law enforcement in Portugal and Germany.
Reports from October indicated that Brueckner was living in a tent in Kiel and was under police protection due to concerns about potential attacks from the public. Upon his release from prison, Brueckner's passport was canceled, and he was mandated to wear an electronic tag and report to authorities any change of residence.