Shots by a police officer killed a 16-year-old in Dortmund in early August. There are now new findings in the investigation of the case: The pepper spray that the police officers initially used against the young person had expired. An “efficacy report” is now being drawn up.
In the case of the deadly police shots at a 16-year-old refugee in Dortmund, there are new findings: According to a report for the legal committee of the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament, the pepper spray used had expired in April. The Ministry of the Interior had commissioned an “efficacy report” on whether the spray was still fully effective. According to the report, the investigators now have an eyewitness video, which, however, only begins after the shots were fired.
The police were called to the courtyard of a youth welfare facility on August 8, where the 16-year-old was holding a knife to his stomach. The operation ran as an intervention in a suicide attempt.
According to the current status of the investigation, the officers had initially sprayed the youth with pepper spray. According to their own statements, the police officers wanted the teenager to drop the knife. But that didn’t happen. The youth was then shot at with two distance electric shockers, so-called tasers. However, according to initial investigations, there were no electric shocks that would have put the 16-year-old out of action.
The youth ran on with the knife. Exactly how he held it is still unclear, according to the new report. A police officer finally shot the fugitive with his submachine gun. He is being investigated for assault resulting in death.
The police officers’ body cameras were not switched on during the operation. That is why Interior Minister Herbert Reul subsequently announced that an obligation to wear it in every operation and an obligation to record in certain cases would be examined. The legal committee should be informed on Wednesday afternoon about the current status of the investigations in the case.