The 18-year-old man who attacked an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, killing 19 students and two teachers, was in contact with a 15-year-old teenager from Frankfurt, according to the American broadcaster CNN.

She is now considered one of the key witnesses in the case.

Catherine Iskandar

Responsible editor for the "Rhein-Main" department of the Sunday newspaper.

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Xenia Reinfels

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung

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The young person is said to have been in close contact with the perpetrator for weeks, including via the Yubo platform and also via Facetime.

He wanted to visit her in Europe.

On Tuesday he texted her in real time that his grandmother was "annoying" him - and then that he had shot her in the head.

Minutes later he announced that he would attack an elementary school.

Shortly thereafter, the local police department in Texas received the first 911 call.

On Thursday, the Federal Ministry of the Interior said on request that "there are currently no reliable findings on the "relationship between the Texas attacker and a girl in Germany".

Apparently, the fifteen-year-old did not contact the investigating authorities either.

Adolescents did not contact the Hessian authorities

A spokesman for the Hessian Ministry of the Interior told the FAZ that, according to the information available to the Hessian authorities so far, "in the run-up to the terrible killing spree in Texas, no young woman reported to the Hessian police with indications of a possible act of violence in the USA".

The Hessian police contacted their American partners and offered their support in the investigation.

The police in Frankfurt have not yet been able to confirm on Thursday whether the fifteen-year-old actually "comes from Frankfurt am Main or from the wider area".

There was temporary speculation that it could also be “Frankfurt an der Oder”.

The spokesman said the agency was "not yet involved".

Investigations coordinated at federal level

In cases of international cooperation between investigative authorities, interrogations of witnesses would initially be coordinated at federal level.

From security circles it was said that the chat logs are perhaps the most important clue to the motive, preparation and course of the crime.