Rostock: Police shoot at man with knife. The suspect is said to have threatened residents of a high-rise building in the Evershagen district. © Bernd Wüstneck/dpa
Large-scale police operation in Rostock: A 57-year-old is said to have run towards police officers with a knife. Then several shots are fired.
Rostock – Dramatic scenes must have taken place on Tuesday afternoon in Rostock (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). Police forces shot at a man (57) with a knife, fired several shots. "The officers were able to stop the man with shots in the leg and upper body," the police and prosecutor's office said in a joint press release.
Rostock: Police shoot at man with knife
The 57-year-old is said to have first threatened a resident in an apartment building in the Evershagen district with a knife. According to the police's initial findings, he then retreated to his apartment. A short time later, the man ran again with a knife towards the emergency services and threatened himself aggressively. "The police asked the man to put down the knife," police said. According to the police, the 57-year-old did not respond to the speech and request.
The officers then shot the man in the leg and upper body. Until the arrival of the emergency services, the injured man was cared for by the police officers. An ambulance took him to a hospital.
Rostock: Police shoot at man with knife. The suspect is said to have threatened residents of a high-rise building in the Evershagen district. © Bernd Wüstneck/dpa
Knife attacker in Rostock: Background still unclear
According to the police, the knife ringer is a Syrian. The criminal investigation department is investigating further background to the incident. The social psychiatric service of the Hanseatic and university city of Rostock had been involved in the operation, "since it could not be ruled out that the 57-year-old was in an exceptional psychological situation," according to the press release. Whether the use of firearms could prevent worse will be shown by investigations by the public prosecutor's office. In March, a suspect was fatally hit with a knife by a police officer in Jarmen (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). There was an arrest warrant against the 32-year-old, then the situation escalated. (ml)
