Saxony: Two people died after the police used firearms

Police rarely have to fire shots during their operations. In 2022, however, several cases became known – two with a fatal outcome.

Dresden (dpa / sn) – In 2022, two people died in Saxony after shots from police weapons. When asked, the Ministry of the Interior did not want to give any figures on the use of firearms by the police; the statistics would not be available until March. However, with a hostage-taking in Dresden in December and the death of a man in his Leipzig apartment in September, two cases have become known in which people died after the police used firearms.

In 2021 and 2020, the Ministry of the Interior had given the number of dead as zero in response to small inquiries from a left-wing politician.

During the sensational hostage-taking on the third weekend in Advent, the 40-year-old perpetrator died after an “emergency access” by the police. The gunman who had previously shot his mother was staying in a Dresden shopping center with two hostages. According to the police, “the special task force used firearms, as a result of which the 40-year-old was fatally injured.”

Shots were also fired in an apartment in Leipzig in September. She should be searched, according to the public prosecutor’s office there was a “threatening operational situation” and “firearms used”. A 36-year-old man died. He was suspected of having something to do with robberies in a supermarket. The police in Dresden took up investigations against two officials.

In addition to the deadly shots, one person was seriously injured in Zwickau at the end of October after a police officer drew his service weapon. A 43-year-old driver tried to flee a traffic stop. A police officer shot the car. The 30-year-old officer was also under investigation to see if the use of the weapon was lawful.

In 2021, according to the Interior Ministry, one person was injured by a police firearm. In 2020 it was two. These were police officers. They were injured during a biathlon training camp when a shot was accidentally fired while cleaning a sporting weapon, according to the ministry.