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Police operation in Bischofswerda (August 2023)
Photo: Sebastian Kahnert / dpa
A teacher and a caretaker have been honored for their decisive action during an act of violence at a school in Bischofswerda in East Saxony.
Both men received the Life Saving Medal of Honor from the Free State of Saxony on Tuesday, as the city of Bischofswerda announced.
They would have prevented something worse from happening last August by risking their own lives in a shooting.
A 16-year-old teenager armed with a knife seriously injured an eight-year-old student in a school complex and set himself on fire.
Attacker held
The elementary school's physical education teacher at the time heard screams coming from a toilet and went to investigate.
He confronted the attacker, knocked the knife out of his hand and closed the door.
While the teacher passed on the information about the attack, the caretaker overpowered the attacker.
The 16-year-old was already on fire.
The teacher and the caretaker extinguished the flames and held the attacker until the police arrived.
The teenager was arrested.
bbr/dpa