Philipos Chanis, a 20-year-old Greek, wanted to celebrate with his little sister, who was receiving her high school diploma at Saturday night’s graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, however, the party ended in tragedy. A group of men stabbed to death the young man from Minden in a local park.

At the hospital where the young man was taken to, he fought a long battle to stay alive as he was hospitalized with severe craniocerebral injuries. His family prayed for him for three days. Yesterday, the attending doctors informed his family that the boy was brain dead.

“We can’t believe that something like this happened to us,” Philip’s father, Dimitris Chanis, told BILD newspaper. “I can’t believe he’s gone,” he added.

Violent attack after graduation ball

Philip was a guest at the graduation ball of the Ratsgymnasium in Minden, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The high school graduates and their families celebrated Saturday at the Kaiserpalais. After graduation, Philip and his 19-year-old best friend, who is also a classmate of his sister, visited a nearby park after midnight.

The two were likely going to a club, the “Adiamo Dance Club,” where the graduation party was going on, or wanted to walk back home.

Philip, 20, and his friend got into an argument with a group of about ten young people from Magreb at the park, according to police. The men repeatedly kicked and punched the two friends. One of the assailants is said to have beaten Philip with fury. His friend was slightly injured.

According to Bild newspaper, police spokesman Lucas Recker said, “The victim was seriously injured in the attack that resulted in his death. His condition was not reversible, which is why he succumbed to his injuries.”

Philip’s family says they are stunned by the violence their son received: “I don’t understand why people use violence as a hobby. I don’t understand why people beat someone mercilessly until they are so badly injured,” his father inconsolably told the German newspaper.

Philip was a calm and compassionate young man, as his family members described him. “He always stood up for others more than himself and always defended the weak,” Dimitris Chanis said. “Philip was a music producer. He had his whole life ahead of him,” he added.

He had recently acquired his own apartment and wanted to start training as a hotel manager. “He was just the best son… The violence must finally stop. Something like this can happen to any child and no father or mother should have to experience this.”

The Bealefield Police Department has launched a manhunt to identify the perpetrators.

After Philip’s death, the district attorney’s office opened an investigation into negligent manslaughter. Police are searching for the prime suspect, who reportedly has a mustache, is 5 feet 7 inches tall and was wearing an orange Adidas jacket. Prosecutors are appealing to the perpetrators to surrender, the German paper added.