Police shoot 16-year-olds: Reul (CDU) warns against prejudice
Created: 08/11/2022 13:17
By: Moritz Serif
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul comments on the police operation.
© David Young/dpa/archive image
A police officer shoots a 16-year-old boy with a submachine gun.
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul speaks up.
Dortmund – A police officer shot a mentally disturbed 16-year-old in Dortmund who was carrying a knife.
A total of eleven officers were involved.
Herbert Reul, CDU interior minister, warns against prejudice and general criticism.
"At the moment I'm experiencing people who know exactly what the process was like in this case and who did what wrong," criticized Reul on Thursday in the
WDR5 morning echo
.
"I do not know that yet.
And I'm guaranteed to have more information than many others at the moment."
Dortmund: Reul promises clarification
Reul promised that the case would be "one hundred percent cleared up".
"I'm not leaving anything there," he announced.
"But it has to be fair." On Monday, according to the public prosecutor's office, a police officer shot a 16-year-old Senegalese six times with a submachine gun in front of a youth welfare facility in Dortmund.
Five shots hit the youth in the stomach, face, forearm and shoulder.
He died in the hospital.
"It is always wise to analyze the facts in a dedicated manner," said Interior Minister Reul.
There is an independent judiciary for this, the police, which are also checked by another authority, and in the future there will be an independent police officer.
"This police officer who shot at the end is viewed like any other citizen who shot," said the CDU politician.
Ultimately, the public prosecutor's office will decide on the investigation.
He advises everyone to take a close look at this case.
Criminologist criticizes police operation: "Why a submachine gun?"
The Bochum criminologist Prof. Thomas Feltes criticized the police operation in Dortmund.
“Why was a submachine gun used there?
That's incomprehensible at all," said Feltes.
The submachine gun (MP) is primarily intended for killing sprees, not for use against mentally disturbed young people.
In the north of Dortmund, a social hotspot, the police are "not exactly known for their restraint," added Feltes.
He criticized the fact that the maxim "solving the problem now and immediately" was firmly anchored in the minds of the police officers.
In such cases, however, it is often better to stabilize the situation and, if possible, withdraw.
Prosecutor determined
According to the public prosecutor's office, the initial suspicion of bodily harm resulting in death is being examined with a view to the police officer who shot the young person.
It will take a few weeks to decide whether charges will be filed or whether the case will be dropped.
(mse/epd/dpa)
