A 49-year-old is said to have shot a cashier in a gas station who drew his attention to the corona mask requirement. The man in Idar-Oberstein (Rhineland-Palatinate) was so annoyed about the situation after a rejection when buying beer that he put a revolver in his pocket and drove to the gas station again to provoke the 20-year-old seller, reported Chief Public Prosecutor Kai Fuhrmann from the suspect’s statement.
When the young student, who worked as a temporary employee at the gas station, again pointed out the mask requirement on his second visit, the 49-year-old shot the cashier “in the head from the front,” said Fuhrmann. The victim was dead immediately. An arrest warrant for murder was issued against the suspect from the Birkenfeld district at the Bad Kreuznach district court.
Man states that he “saw no other way out”
The alleged perpetrator confessed to the fact. As for the motive, he stated that the situation of the corona pandemic was a heavy burden on him. He felt pushed into a corner and “saw no other way out” than to set an example. The victim seemed to him “responsible for the overall situation, since it had enforced the rules,” said Fuhrmann. The alleged perpetrator testified that he rejects the corona measures.
According to the previous investigations, the 49-year-old had entered the sales room of the gas station without a mask on Saturday evening and placed two six-packs of beer on the counter at the cash register. He later said he forgot the mask. The cashier pointed out the mask requirement to the man – whereupon the man left the room and threateningly raised his hand.
An hour later he appeared again at the gas station – this time he wore a mouth and nose cover, took another six-pack of beer and went to the cash register. “There he put the mouth and nose cover down,” said Fuhrmann. The cashier had again advised the man to comply with the mask requirement: Thereupon the perpetrator pulled the gun and shot the 20-year-old.
“Incredible, terrible act”
The suspect was arrested on Sunday morning on the premises of the police in Idar-Oberstein. “We assume that he wanted to surrender,” said Trier’s police chief Friedel Durben. “This is definitely a special case: We did not have such an act in either the Trier police headquarters or in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate that suggests a connection to Corona.”
“That is a very unbelievable, terrible act that happened here in Idar-Oberstein,” said Mayor Frank Frühauf (CDU). This can also be seen in the great concern of the local people. Many would have laid flowers and wreaths at the gas station. “You can’t compare such an act with anything. It will take a while to come to terms with it.”