Germany: New fatality for confronting criminals

Hannover. A 21-year-old died while trying to thwart a supermarket robbery in Hannover, the second case of death in a few days in Germany of someone trying to help in a dangerous situation.

According to the police today, the young man tried to reduce a thief on Thursday night who had entered to rob a supermarket shortly before closing and pointed a gun at the cashier.

Apparently, in the struggle a shot was fired that downed the young man. The thief has fled and is wanted by law enforcement for murder and robbery.

Police are investigating whether the thief aimed at him or whether the gun was accidentally fired. The offender fled on a bicycle.

A 29-year-old man who was entering the business was also seriously injured in the incident.

The death occurred a few days after the death of Tugce Albayrak, a 23-year-old girl who tried to defend two girls from being harassed by an 18-year-old boy at a fast food outlet.

The young Turkish-German woman fell into a coma after being brutally beaten by the attacker and days later her parents decided to disconnect her from the devices that kept her alive.

The case caused a deep shock in Germany and Turkey and unleashed a wave of solidarity with the family.

The German Federal President, Joachim Gauck, is considering posthumously awarding him the Cross of Merit, the highest civil award in Germany. Some 170,000 people signed an initiative to request the distinction.