Parents were concerned. And the news that reached the Haarer Police Inspectorate was also worrying. Children had reported that a stranger approached them on the way to school in Neukeferloh on Wednesday and tried to lure them into a vehicle. But the police gave the all-clear on Friday. Everything was obviously quite harmless.
The head of the police inspection, Stefan Roß, said on request that a 14-year-old had actually talked to younger primary school students between the ages of six and eight about his Fortnite game on his smartphone. When the kids wanted to play with it, he said they could if they got on the bus with him. What was meant was a regular bus, which drove off immediately afterwards. That brief incident turned into a terrible suspicion after a child told about it at home. The story ended up in the school’s parent chat, a teacher picked it up and informed the police, who set about investigating the whole thing.
Police chief Stefan Roß knows such cases. Again and again it happens that stories like this take on a life of their own. But he doesn’t want to condemn anyone who reports something like this to the police. On the contrary: “Parents, call 110,” asks Roß instead of posting rumors in the parent chat. The police are following the leads with great seriousness. “We’d rather go somewhere for free a hundred times,” says Roß. He is currently hearing more and more rumors from children who are said to be approached by strangers – mostly in vans. Especially if children were informed about dangers from strangers, such news could get out into the world. For Haar’s police chief, this is not “misinformation” at all – the children would have experienced it that way – but “misinterpretations” by adults.