Singureni mayor about nephew who died in Hanau: We are shocked, he left for better life

The mayor of the Singureni town in Giurgiu county, Marian Patuleanu, on Friday told AGERPRES that the young man who died in the armed attack in Hanau, Germany, in front of a local restaurant, was his nephew, a boy who left the country six years ago for a better life and to make money for the treatment of his mother.

"The Foreign Ministry did not tell us anything, because it is the last one that finds out about these things, after the completion of the investigation by the German authorities, but I made contact with his family because the boy had left there with his mother and his father and, when they learned from the television about what happened, they went to the scene of the attack. The parents were in shock. They weren't able to approach the place of the tragedy and were not called to identify their son's body because the investigation is underway. Most things I found out from his uncle who also worked in Germany. The boy was employed by a courier company and, at the time of the armed attack, he was in his car, in front of the restaurant where the attack took place. He was coming from work and stopped to buy something and then the attacker came out of the building and shot him after seeing him in the car," said Marian Patuleanu.

He said he visited his relatives in Germany last year.

"I visited them last year and they told me that they were fine, they had a good situation and they were peaceful, and now ...", said Marian Patuleanu.

The mayor added that he does not know whether the young man's body will be repatriated or the funeral procedures will be carried out in Germany because his parents are in Hanau, but, depending on the situation, he will try to provide financial support to the family and will bring the situation to the attention of the local counselors.

The armed attacks in the German city of Hanau resulted in nine deaths and several people injured, the investigation considering the attacks as terrorist actions, said the Minister of Interior of the Hessa Land, Peter Beuth.

According to sources close to the investigation, a confession letter and a video recording were found after police announced, around 6.00 am local time, that they had discovered the alleged perpetrator of the attacks dead by shooting in his apartment, along with another deceased person, who would be his mother, 72 years old.