Mother pays tribute to boy, 9, killed in German Christmas market attack: ‘Let my little teddy bear fly’
The youngest victim of the attack on a Christmas market in Germany has been named by his family.
In a heartbreaking social media post, the mother of nine-year-old André Gleißner paid tribute to her “little teddy bear” following the incident on Friday night.
He was one of five people who were killed after a BMW rammed into a bustling Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg at around 7pm.
Désirée Gleißner wrote on Facebook: “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?”
She added: “You will always live on in our hearts … I promise you that.”
The Schöppenstedt fire department, around an hour’s drive from the city, said he was a member of the children’s fire brigade in Warle.
Saying he “left us much too soon”, the brigade added: “Our thoughts are with André’s relatives, who we also want to support during this difficult time.”
A fundraiser has been set up on behalf of his mother to support his family as they “move through the journey of grief at their own pace”.
It described André as having a “joy for life” and “really looking forward to Christmas” before his visit to the market “ended in unbelievable tragedy”.
Almost €50,000 has been raised so far, with the family friend who set up the GoFundMe page saying the family was “overwhelmed” by the support.
Over 200 others were injured in the attack, 41 severely, while another four women were killed.
In the days since the attack, anger has grown over security concerns and previous warnings given to authorities about the suspect.
Local media reported the suspect had shown support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), with a Saudi source telling Reuters that the kingdom had warned German authorities about the suspect, who the source said had posted extremist views on his personal X account.
Soon after his arrest, reports began to emerge that the German authorities had been warned of the accused but did not consider him a concern.
