As of: April 4, 2024, 10:04 a.m
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Police emergency vehicles are parked in the city center when police use firearms. © -/Vifogra/dpa
A police operation in downtown Dortmund ends tragically: a man with no fixed address dies after an officer shoots him.
Dortmund - During a police operation in downtown Dortmund, a 52-year-old homeless man died after being shot by an emergency officer. According to initial witness statements and review of body camera recordings, he was said to have been armed with an approximately 2.5 meter long iron bar from the scaffolding on Wednesday evening. Before the emergency services arrived, he used it to hit another homeless person, the Recklinghausen police headquarters reported on Thursday. After the officers showed up, he hit the door of the Reinoldi Church several times with the iron bar.
“He did not comply with repeated requests from police officers to put the iron bar away,” the police report states. “For this reason, police officers used a Taser several times.” However, after the stun gun had “hardly any effect,” a police officer finally fired a shot from his service weapon.
The 52-year-old died from his serious injuries in hospital. An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday. The investigations by the Recklinghausen police headquarters are ongoing. Witnesses should report there. A link through which witness videos can be uploaded will also be activated, the police said: “We ask that you do not share videos showing the operation on social media.” dpa