An FDP politician was shot through a window in his apartment in Hattenhofen, Baden-Württemberg.Image: dpa / Julian Rettig
Politics
The Baden-Württemberg community of Hattenhofen near Göppingen is stunned: An FDP local politician was shot through a window in his apartment early Sunday morning.
The 65-year-old district councilor was seriously injured and already operated on, but he is not in mortal danger, the prosecutor said. Almost all other questions are still unanswered more than 24 hours after the act of violence. According to media reports, the politician is said to be Georg Gallus junior.
The shock runs deep among his party friends. Several of them speak out on Twitter. Criticism of social interaction in general is also appropriate.
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Shots in Hattenhofen: Many questions are still open
It remains completely unclear so far whether the district council has become a target because of its political work or whether there is a completely different motive for the shots on the remote farm between Zell and Hattenhofen. There was still no trace of the shooter on Monday.
Göppingen’s District Administrator Edgar Wolff was also “deeply concerned and shocked by this act of violence” in a letter to the members of the district council. FDP faction leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke told the dpa news agency: “I am appalled by the terrible news.” His thoughts are now with the local politician and his family.
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai and FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr express it similarly on Twitter. Djir-Sarai writes:
“The attack on our party friend in Hattenhofen shocked me. I am deeply affected by this act of violence. Get well soon to Georg Gallus junior! Our thoughts are with him and his family.”
Dürr is also shocked. At the same time, he was relieved that the act of violence did not have a worse outcome.
For the FDP local chapter Hackescher Markt in Berlin-Mitte, mere condolences and wishes for recovery are not enough. The Berlin liberals make it clear on Twitter on which breeding ground, in their opinion, this act of violence grew. They write in their tweet:
“If hate/hate speech/defamation against the FDP is considered socially acceptable, especially on social media, the inhibition threshold for perpetrators drops! Maybe a few people should do some self-examination!”
It is not yet clear whether the assassination was politically motivated. The special commission is examining a possible connection to other shots that had been fired in other places in Baden-Württemberg in the past few weeks. In Stuttgart, a few days earlier, a man had been shot and seriously injured by strangers in front of a restaurant in the Zuffenhausen district. Also in Plochingen and Eislingen people were shot at by unknown persons.
(With material from dpa)
