Public prosecutor's office - Investigators: police shots in Gummersbach were self-defense
In the police shooting in Gummersbach in November, the public prosecutor's office believes that the officers were justified in shooting the suspected knife attacker in self-defense. "The knife attack posed a real risk of death for the officers and the use of firearms was therefore justified as a last resort," said Cologne senior public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer on Monday. There was no initial suspicion of negligent bodily harm in office. The "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" had previously reported on this.
The police were originally called to a supermarket in mid-November because of a shoplifting incident. The 30-year-old is said to have stolen beer and beaten an employee. According to the public prosecutor's office, several confrontations with the police followed: even the repeated use of pepper spray and a first shot could not have stopped the man, who was armed with a cutter knife, from attacking. After the incident shifted, the 30-year-old is said to have attacked again. The officers tried to defend themselves with chairs and one police officer fired another shot.
In the pedestrian zone, the man is said to have finally run towards the police officers with a cutter knife drawn, "who had no other choice in the specific situation but to injure and stop the attacker at gunpoint", according to Bremer. The fact that the shots were fired in a pedestrian zone did not lead to a different assessment. The legal requirements for self-defense were met. The 30-year-old, who was already known to the police for a number of criminal offenses, is said to have suffered six hits. He survived.
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- The investigation into the police shooting in Gummersbach is being handled by the public prosecutor's office in Cologne.
- The knife attacker, known for his past criminality in North Rhine-Westphalia, had caused bodily injury during a shoplifting incident at a supermarket.
- Ulrich Bremer, a senior public prosecutor from Cologne, stated that the police's use of lethal force was a legitimate act of self-defense.
- The local "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" reported that the public prosecutor's office did not suspect any negligence in the use of force.
- A 30-year-old man, armed with a cutter knife, was shot multiple times by police in a crowded pedestrian zone, despite earlier attempts to subdue him with pepper spray and warning shots.
- The public prosecutor's office in Gummersbach will continue to investigate the incident, seeking to ensure that all legal procedures are followed properly.
Source: www.stern.de
