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Securing evidence at the site of the police operation in Mannheim (May 2nd, 2022): Investigations are ongoing
Photo: René Priebe / dpa
According to the State Criminal Police Office (LKA), traces of blunt force were found on the body of the 47-year-old who died after a police check in Mannheim.
But these were "of low intensity," said LKA President Andreas Stenger.
It is unclear whether the man died a violent or a natural death.
He also had heart failure.
The exact cause of death could only be determined after further investigations, Stenger said.
The final autopsy report will only be available in six to eight weeks.
The investigators are now in the process of evaluating witness statements, videos of passers-by and surveillance cameras in order to reconstruct the entire process.
According to the investigators, the victim was being treated at the Central Institute for Mental Health Mannheim (ZI) and had left the ZI on Monday against medical advice in the direction of the market square.
Two police officers and a doctor found the patient in the city center.
The police officers used "immediate coercion" during the check, and the man fought back.
The 47-year-old collapsed during the police operation and, according to investigators, was initially revived, later dying in hospital.
police officers suspended
The two police officers involved are now being investigated on suspicion of causing bodily harm in office resulting in death.
According to the Mannheim police chief Siegfried Kollmar, they have been suspended from duty.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the police officers have not yet commented on the course of the operation.
To his knowledge, they have not yet become conspicuous, said Mannheim's senior public prosecutor Romeo Schuessler.
Since the man's death, the police have faced severe criticism.
Videos have been circulating online showing a police officer beating a man lying on the ground in the head.
It is not clear whether the video shows the police check in question.
An LKA spokesman did not want to comment on Tuesday.
The video and other clues would need to be checked.
According to the investigators, the two police officers had not switched on their body cameras.
The reason for this is so far unclear.
According to the investigators, the deceased had no Turkish roots, contrary to what was initially assumed in public.
He was born in Heidelberg and, as a Croatian, adopted German citizenship in 2017.
ptz/dpa