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The youngest victim attack on the Christmas market in Germany he was appointed by his family.
In a heartbreaking social media post, the mother of nine-year-old André Gleißner paid tribute to her “little bear” after incident on Friday night.
He was one of the five people who were killed after a BMW ran into a busy Christmas market in the East German city of Magdeburg around 7 p.m.
Désirée Gleißner wrote on Facebook: “Let my little bear fly around the world again. André didn’t do anything to anyone. He was with us on earth for only nine years. Why you? Just why?”
She added: “You will always live in our hearts… I promise you that.”
Schöppenstedt fire station, about an hour’s drive from the city, said he was a member of the children’s fire brigade in Warle.
Saying that he “left us too soon”, the brigade added: “Our thoughts are with André’s relatives, who we also want to support in this difficult time.”
A fundraising campaign was organized 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 joie de vivre” and “really looking forward to Christmas” before his visit to the market “ended in incredible tragedy”.
Almost €50,000 has been raised so far, and a family friend who set up the GoFundMe page says the family has been “overwhelmed” by the support.
More than 200 people were injured in the attack, 41 seriously, while four more women were killed.
In the days after the attack, anger grew over safety concerns and previous warnings to authorities about the suspect.
Local media reported that the suspect had shown support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and a Saudi source said Reuters that the kingdom alerted German authorities to the suspect, who the source said had posted extremist views on his personal X account.
Shortly after his arrest, reports began to emerge that German authorities had been alerted to the accused but did not consider him a concern.
A German security source told the news agency that the tips sent by the Saudi authorities in 2023 and 2024 have been passed on to the relevant authorities.
Newspapers The world quoted security sources as saying a risk assessment by state and federal investigators concluded the man did not pose “any particular danger.”
When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived at the scene on Saturday, he was greeted by angry members of the crowd and booed.
Mr Scholz went on to pledge government support to those in need, as he condemned the attack as “barbaric”.