Tributes to nine-year-old killed in Christmas market attack

Tributes have been paid to a nine-year-old boy killed in an attack on a German Christmas market.

Andre Gleissner died after a car plowed into a crowd of shoppers at the Magdeburg market on Friday night, the local fire service said.

A social media post purportedly attributed to his mother called Andre “my little teddy bear” and said he will “always live in our hearts.”

Four women – aged 45, 52, 67 and 75 – died in the attack. Authorities are holding a suspect in custody on charges of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm.

Another tribute came from a fire department in nearby Schöppenstedt.

A statement said Andre was a member of the children’s fire brigade in Varle, which is about an hour’s drive from Magdeburg.

“Our thoughts are with Andre’s relatives, who we also want to support at this difficult time,” the statement said.

Lower Saxony’s youth fire brigade also paid tribute to the nine-year-old.

“We offer our condolences to his family, friends and all who were close to him,” it said in a statement.

“We stand with them in these difficult times and offer our deepest sympathies,” the statement said.

Friday’s attack left more than 200 injured, some of them in critical condition.

The four women who were also killed have not yet been identified.

The car plowed into the crowded market through the emergency lane around 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Friday, police said.

Eyewitnesses describe jumping out of the way of the car, running away or hiding. Unverified footage on social media shows the vehicle speeding across a footpath between stalls.

Police said the driver then returned to the road and was forced to stop in traffic, where he was arrested.

About 100 police, medics and firefighters responded to the scene, according to city officials.

A 50-year-old man has been taken into custody on suspicion of five murders, multiple attempted murders and grievous bodily harm, police said.

The suspect was identified in local media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi-born psychiatrist who arrived in Germany in 2006.

The motive behind the attack remains unclear, but authorities say they believe the driver acted alone.

German authorities are facing security questions after reports they were warned last year that the suspect could pose a threat.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said it had warned the German government about Al Abdulmohsen’s extremist views but had received no response.