Construction worker, music superfan ID'd as German synagogue shooting victims – New York Post, Nypost.com

Enlarge Image

Jana Lange has been identified as one of the victims of the German synagogue shooting.Facebook

The two peoplemurdered by the anti-Semitic gunmanwho went on a rampage near a synagogue in Germany were identified in local outlets Thursday as a music superfan and a young construction worker.

Jana Lange, 40, was walking home Wednesday around noon when she passed the Jüdische Gemeinde Halle temple thatshooting suspect Stephan Ballietwas trying to break into,local website Stern reported.

She was gunned down as she walked by the house of worship.

Moments later, the killer drove to a kebab shop, where he shot dead a 20 – year-old identified only as Kevin S., who was on his lunch break from a nearby construction site where he worked as a painter,his mother told RTL.

“He had his whole life ahead of him,” said his distraught mom, identified only as 43 – year-old Mandy S.

“I don’t know how my life is supposed to carry on.”

The first victim, Lange, couldn’t work due to medical reasons and devoted her time to going to concerts and collecting autographs, her friends told the outlet.

One of her favorite artists, German singer and TV presenter Stefan Mross, paid tribute to her Thursdayon Facebookwriting: “The rampage in Halle has taken our most loyal fan from us,” and describing Lange as having a “zest for life.”

Both of the victims’ murders were captured in a sickening video the shooter made using a smartphone mounted on a helmet. The footagewas livestreamed on Twitchto around 2, 200 people.

The video shows the suspect trying to breach a Jewish cemetery outside the synagogue – when he shoots a passing woman, later firing another shot at her lifeless body while shouting “Pig!” According to Agence France-Presse.

Balliet, 27, appeared in German federal court Thursday, where prosecutors said he was inspired by the massacre at aNew Zealand mosque in Marchand livesteamed his attack to incite more copycats.

In a screed he is believed to have published on a German message board, the gunman said he deliberately chose a synagogue on Yom Kippur – a holy day in Judaism – but had also considered attacking a mosque.

Federal prosecutor Peter Frank said Balliet would be charged with two counts of murder and nine counts of attempted murder for the “terror” act that the suspecthad intended to be a “massacre.”

Nine pounds of explosives were found in Balliet’s car, and he “wanted to enter the synagogue to kill many people,” Frank said.

Among those cowering inside the house of worship were 10 Americans and several children, specifically in Halle to celebrate the holiday.

Bild newspaper described Balliet as a computer-obsessed loner with medical issues, who’d been living with his mom ever since his parents divorced when he was 14.

“The boy was only ever online,” his father, who wasn’t named,told the paper.