Berlin — Senior politicians in Germany expressed shock over the weekend killing of a young gas station clerk who asked a customer to wear a face mask, and they warned Tuesday against the radicalization of people who oppose the country’s coronavirus pandemic restrictions. A 49-year-old German man was arrested in the fatal Saturday shooting of the clerk in the western town of Idar-Oberstein. The suspect is being held on suspicion of murder.
Authorities said the man told officers he acted “out of anger” after being refused service for not wearing a mask while trying to buy beer.
“He further stated during interrogation that he rejected the measures against the coronavirus,” the Trier police department said in a statement.
A requirement to wear masks in stores is among the measures in place in Germany to stop the spread of the virus.
According to police, the suspect left the gas station after the dispute but then returned half an hour later wearing a mask and fatally shot the 20-year-old clerk in the head.
The suspect, a German citizen who wasn’t identified by name in line with privacy laws, fled the scene and turned himself in to police on Sunday morning.
The center-left Green party’s candidate to succeed German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced dismay at the killing. Germany’s federal election is scheduled for Sunday… (Read more)
