Mother pays tribute to boy, 9, killed in German Christmas market attack: ‘Let my little teddy bear fly’
André Gleissner was among the five dead following the attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany
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Your support makes all the difference.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 when 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 fire department in Schöppenstedt, around an hour’s drive from the city, said André 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 (£41,000) has been raised so far, with the friend who set up the GoFundMe page saying the family was “overwhelmed” by the support.
More than 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 warnings given to authorities about the suspect.
Local media reported he had shown support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), with a Saudi source telling Reuters that he had posted extremist views on his personal X account and the kingdom had warned German authorities about him.
A German security source told Reuters that tips sent by the Saudi authorities in 2023 and 2024 had been passed on to the relevant authorities.
Newspaper Die Welt cited security sources as saying that a risk assessment conducted by state and federal investigators concluded the man posed “no specific danger”.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz was heckled by angry members of the public when he arrived at the scene on Saturday.
Mr Scholz went on to pledge government support for those who needed it as he condemned the attack as “barbaric”.