Andre Gleissner ID’d as victim in terror attack on German Christmas market
The little boy killed Friday when an extremist madman plowed through a crowded German Christmas market has been identified — as his mom paid heartbreaking tribute online to her “little teddy bear.”
Andre Gleissner, who was just 9 years old, is one of five people who died when 50-year-old Saudi doctor Taleb al-Abdulmohsen allegedly tore through a bustling collection of shopping stalls that night in the city of Magdeburg in what authorities said was a terror attack.
In a Facebook post, grief-stricken mom Desiree Gleissner wrote that she wanted to “let my little teddy bear fly around the world again,” according to Sky News.
“Andre didn’t do anything to anyone,” she said. “He was only with us on earth for nine years … why you … why. I don’t understand.
“Now you are with grandma and grandpa in heaven. They missed you very much as we miss you here now.
“You will always live on in our hearts … I promise you that.”
Al-Abdulmohsen — a far-right extremist who spewed anti-German and anti-Muslim rhetoric online for years — was arrested at gunpoint after the vile attack and has been charged with five counts of murder and several counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
Al-Abdulmohsen’s alleged attack began around 7 p.m. when he drove his BMW between two safety bollards and raced down one of the packed market’s lanes.
Surveillance cameras captured the car racing through the alley and leaving a trail of destruction, with injured victims collapsed on the ground as others panicked and ran off.
Saudi Arabia reportedly warned Germany three times about the man, who allegedly killed Gleissner and four adult women while injuring about 200 others during his savage rampage.
Franziska Helbich, who worked with Desiree Gleissner, wrote on the page that the little boy was “so looking forward to Christmas” but “will never be able to unwrap his presents.
“With his cheerful smile and his zest for life, Andre leaves a big gap in the hearts of his family, friends and all those who knew him,” Helbich said.
A GoFundMe set up for his shattered family raised more than $50,000 before it was closed, Sky News said.
Al-Abdulmohsen had lived in Germany for nearly two decades and become not only a staunch critic of Islam but also a supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany party on social media.
He had fled Saudi Arabia in 2006 and received official refugee status a decade later, according to a report from The Guardian.
Once in Europe, he worked as a doctor and psychotherapist — and was also a prominent anti-Islam and women’s rights activist in the local Saudi community who ran a website and social media channels dedicated to those causes, the Wall Street Journal said.
On his site, he warned prospective refugees to avoid Germany because of what he believed was the government’s tolerance of radical Islam.
He also posted pro-Israel content after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack left about 1,200 Israelis dead.
The Saudis considered al-Abdulmohsen a fugitive and had asked Germany to extradite him around 2007 or 2008.
But the Germans claimed they were concerned for his safety if he was returned to his native country.
On Saturday night, a memorial service was held for Friday’s victims at a cathedral in Magdeburg — and the bells tolled at 7:04 p.m., exactly 24 hours after the assault, Sky News said.
In a social-media post, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the commemoration as a “moving moment of compassion and solidarity for a deeply affected city.”
The attack came one day after the anniversary of the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack that killed 12 people and injured 56 in the deadliest terror attack in German history.
