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Münster correctional facility: Discussion of forensic evidence
Photo: Bernd Thissen / dpa
North Rhine-Westphalia's Justice Minister Peter Biesenbach (CDU) commented on the incident after a hostage-taking in the prison in Münster, during which special police forces shot a prisoner.
"I regret the death of the prisoner", said the politician of the news agency dpa.
But he was also relieved about the minor injuries to the 29-year-old servant who had been taken hostage by the man.
"We offer her all the help to cope with the tragic incident," said Biesenbach.
Threat with a dangerous object made from a "razor blade"
According to the investigators, the violent access was preceded by negotiations lasting several hours.
The alarm was triggered at 6.20 a.m.
Three hours later, the man was dead, as the police and prosecutors said in a joint press release.
The man's motives are still unclear.
He would have been released in three weeks.
The 40-year-old had overwhelmed the trainee early in the morning.
Outside the cell, he threatened her with a "dangerous object made from a razor blade," the authorities said.
Police specialists tried to negotiate with the man.
This did not succeed despite "intensive attempts at communication", as it was said on Friday.
Again and again the prisoner held the blade to his hostage's neck and threatened to kill her.
His demand: a helicopter to escape from the prison.
According to the investigators, the 40-year-old made a psychologically unpredictable impression.
The SEK officers used a firearm to free the hostage.
The perpetrator died on the spot.
For reasons of neutrality, the Dortmund police have now taken over the investigation into this use of firearms.
The 29-year-old employee was physically almost intact, said a ministry spokesman.
According to police, she was slightly injured in the neck from the blade.
Suspended sentence for kicking police officers
The 40-year-old was serving a four-month sentence for resisting law enforcement officers.
Specifically, it was about a kick against a police officer.
According to the Münster public prosecutor's office, the homeless and alcoholic man rioted in 2019 on the grounds of a clinic of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL).
The orderlies called the police.
The man struggled and stepped in the direction of an officer.
The district court then sentenced the rioter to a suspended sentence.
He was sent to jail for failing to meet his probation requirements during this period.
Why he now, shortly before his release on November 10, took a hostage, is part of the investigation, as the public prosecutor's office in Münster explained.
According to the NRW Ministry of Justice, he would have been released on November 10th.
The hostage-taking is all the more incomprehensible, said the spokesman for the ministry.
The JVA Münster is located in the middle of the north-eastern city area in a living area.
There are narrow streets around the site.
The prison in Münster had already made headlines across Germany four years ago.
The over 160 year old listed building had to be cleared within 48 hours.
The nearly 500 prisoners affected were to be protected from an impending collapse.
They were distributed to prisons in North Rhine-Westphalia at short notice.
There has been a dispute over a new building for many years.
The SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament now asked the justice minister "whether the structural condition of the Münster correctional facility favored the hostage-taking".
If necessary, a special session of the legal committee will be requested to open the case.
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bbr / dpa