Civil rights activists in Germany have demanded an independent inquiry into alleged police racism after an officer shot a 21-year-old black man from behind, killing him after an altercation outside a nightclub.
The 27-year-old officer was suspended from duty over the shooting early on Sunday morning in the city of Oldenburg in north-west Germany pending a murder investigation, said state prosecutors. Fatal police shootings are relatively rare in Germany and prosecutors were quoted in local media as saying the suspension and investigation were “routine”.
Police have not identified the victim due to data protection laws but media and pressure groups have identified him as Lorenz A.
Have to disagree with you here: If threatened with a stick, police have to pull out a bigger stick to do their job.
If a person starts a fist fight, the baton is the proper method to a) defend yourself and b) gain an advantage over the attacker. If the person then pulls a knife, the baton loses its advantage and a new tool is needed to regain it.
The issue in this case is not the choice of the tool for the job: Pulling the gun on someone attacking others with a knife. The issue is the attacker was shot in the back, which raises the question if he was still a threat.
Little fun fact: The vests regular police are wearing in Germany (at least in the southwest where I live) are bulletproof against small arms fire, but not stab proof. So “just tackle him and take it on the armour” is not an option.
Do cops in Germany not have Pepper Spray? Do they not have tazers? It seems like there were plenty of options to deal with the threat at hand without killing them. But the cop decided to take the US approach of shoot first ask questions later.
I am not sure how pepper spray is supposed to stop someone from wildly slashing around.
Been many times proven to be unreliable: Highly depends on what the attacker is wearing or which mental state he is in.
Guess we should task you with the investigation, since you appear to know a lot more than the rest of us.
Blinding someone takes out a lot of their capabilities. It’s hard to hit a target you can’t see. And the vast majority of people with pepper spray in their eyes are going to grab at their eyes first from the pain/discomfort. I’m surprised I have to point this out.
The vast majority of people tend to tense up when tazed. Some people handle it better than others, but most people are getting stopped by a tazer. And again, pepper spray is another option if the tazer failed. The gun should have only been a last resort if no other options worked and the suspect was still trying to stab someone.
They literally shot the man in the back three times, but K.
You did see in the article where it says the guy was shot from behind right? Cuz it kind of kills all your little scenarios you’re coming up with here.