Tributes pour in for 9-year-old boy killed in Christmas market attack
Heartfelt tributes have flooded in following the death of a 9-year-old boy in the recent German Christmas market attack. The young victim, described by his mother as her “little teddy bear,” lost his life, along with four women, when a driver rammed into the festive crowd.
The boy, an aspiring firefighter and identified in the media as André Gleißner, was one of the victims in last Friday’s attack, which left more than 200 individuals injured, with at least 41 in critical condition, when a black BMW SUV plowed 400 meters (437 yards) through the crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg.
“Let my little teddy bear fly around the world again. André didn’t do anything to anybody. He was only with us on Earth for nine years. Why you? Just why?” André’s mother, Désirée, said, according to The Telegraph.
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The Lower Saxony youth fire brigade stated, “We are particularly saddened by the loss of such a young life from our own ranks. André, 9 years old and a committed member of the Warle children’s fire brigade in the Braunschweig district, was taken from his life by this senseless act.”
Families of the victims, along with emergency workers and government officials, gathered at Magdeburg Cathedral on Saturday evening for a memorial service.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the service, where he described the incident as a “dreadful tragedy,” the BBC reported. “So many people were injured and killed with such brutality in a place that is supposed to be joyful.”
City officials have been inundated with messages of support and tributes to the young boy and the other victims, according to local media. Residents have been seen placing candles and flowers at the cathedral and other public spaces, honoring the lives lost and supporting the families affected by the tragedy.
Witnesses recounted the horrifying moments of the attack, sharing how they jumped out of the driver's path, fled, or hid to survive the onslaught.
“I saw blood on the floor as well as many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries,” Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s “World Tonight.”
The suspected attacker, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi citizen, arrived in Germany in 2006 and worked as a doctor. He is being questioned by authorities.
Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens stated that the investigation is ongoing but suggested that the motive “could have been disgruntlement with the way Saudi Arabian refugees are treated in Germany.” He added that al-Abdulmohsen is expected to be charged with murder and attempted murder in due course.
Reiner Haseloff, the premier of Saxony-Anhalt state, indicated that preliminary investigations suggest the suspect acted alone, according to DW. “The places that the perpetrator used were the emergency access routes and the emergency exits,” Haseloff was quoted as saying.
The attack in Magdeburg is not the first of its kind targeting Christmas markets in Germany. Previous incidents, including the 2016 Berlin attack by Anis Amri and the 2018 Strasbourg shooting, have left lasting scars and prompted extensive reviews of security protocols at such events.
Holger Münch, head of Germany’s federal police force the BKA, described al-Abdulmohsen as “atypical.” He noted that the suspect’s social media activity suggested opposition to the Saudi regime and dissatisfaction with Germany’s refugee policies.
The Saudi government had reportedly sent official notifications to German authorities warning about al-Abdulmohsen’s extreme views, which a source close to the Saudi government claimed were ignored, according to the German press agency DPA.
