Oldenburg: Charges against officer admitted following fatal police shooting
A court in Oldenburg has admitted charges against a 28-year-old police officer for negligent homicide. The officer shot and killed 21-year-old Lorenz A. during an operation in the city centre in April 2024.
Oldenburg: Charges against officer admitted following fatal police shooting
The 4th Criminal Chamber of the Oldenburg Regional Court has admitted charges against a 28-year-old police officer for negligent homicide. The officer fired multiple times at 21-year-old Lorenz A. during an operation in the city centre on 20 April 2024, resulting in his death.
Following a dispute in the city, the young man fled from the officers who had arrived at the scene. He had used pepper spray during his flight. The police officer now facing charges then opened fire on the fleeing man. The public prosecutor's office filed charges in November, alleging that the officer fired the fatal shots into the 21-year-old's back despite no acute self-defence situation existing. According to the investigators, the officer should have recognised that his victim was merely attempting to escape.
The court endorsed this assessment in its preliminary review. The chamber considers it probable that the officer wrongly believed he was acting in self-defence. There is sufficient suspicion for negligent homicide, but not for manslaughter or murder, the court found. The shots were fired in an extremely rapidly occurring sequence within seconds at the man fleeing from behind, the court stated. The exact circumstances are to be clarified in the main trial. A date for the trial has not yet been set.
The young man's death prompted protests in Oldenburg and nationwide. People demonstrated against racist police violence. The citizens' initiative "Justice for Lorenz" attributes responsibility for the death to racism. In the past year, at least 16 people died during police operations in Germany. According to experts, only around two per cent of such incidents end up in court.
Source: NDR.de
Source: Google News DE — Crime (de)