The case, which goes down in criminal history as the defenestration of Hamelin, begins in a village.
At around 9:30 p.m. on January 13, 2015, a man in a Halloween mask stormed the Aerzen gas station and threatened the cashier.
He robs cash and cigarettes and flees in a car.
Under the disguise is 26-year-old Mohamed S., a member of an extended Arab family from Hamelin, eleven kilometers away.
The police arrested him two hours later in an arcade.
Under a bush, the officers find a bag with the loot, the mask and an air pistol.
more on the subject
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SPIEGEL TV from October 19th, 2020: The power of the clans, part 2
Clan crime in Hameln: The death of Mohamed S. and its consequencesBy Thomas Heise and Claas Meyer-Heuer
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After that, events take a turn for the worse: first the brother, Ibrahim S., tries to pull the perpetrator out of the car in front of the police building, but the attempt to free the prisoner fails.
Both have to stay in the prison cell for one night.
When the petrol station robber is brought to the court hearing the next day, drama ensues.
Mohamed S. wants to flee, falls out of a window and dies.
What now follows is an escalation of violence.
A violent argument ensues between clan members and the police.
Stones fly, tear gas is used, there are injuries.
In this episode of our podcast "Im Verhör" the investigative reporters Claas Meyer-Heuer and Thomas Heise describe the dramatic hours in Hamelin.
At the end, an experienced police officer says: "I was afraid for my life."