A 20-year-old petrol station clerk in Germany has been shot dead after refusing to sell beer to a customer not wearing a face mask. The incident occurred on Saturday evening in Idar-Oberstein, a town in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Police said the 49-year-old suspect first entered the shop at around 7.45pm without a mask and tried to buy a six-pack of beer. The worker told him to comply with the shop's rules and would not serve him without a protective covering. The customer, who 'rejected measures against Covid', argued with the worker before leaving empty-handed.
Approximately an hour later, he returned wearing a mask and carrying a concealed revolver. He approached the counter, pulled down the mask, and shot the student employee in the head, killing him. Senior public prosecutor Kai Fuhrmann confirmed the victim died from a gunshot wound to the head.
The suspect fled on foot but handed himself into police the following day. He was arrested on suspicion of murder, telling officers he 'acted out of anger'. Police said he stated during interrogation that he rejected coronavirus measures and felt the pandemic had greatly stressed him, seeing 'no other way out' than to make an example of the shop worker.
A search of his apartment uncovered the murder weapon along with other firearms and ammunition. The killing is believed to be the first in Germany linked to Covid rules. Mayor Frank Fruehauf called it 'an unfathomable, terrible act', and residents have laid flowers and candles outside the petrol station.
Politicians condemned the murder, with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saying the 'hatred and incitement' of anti-mask movements 'divides our community and kills people'. The Tagesspiegel newspaper reported that far-right chat groups on Telegram were applauding the murder.
