Police officers removed from civil service following shooting in Gevelsberg
Two police officers who abandoned fleeing colleagues in 2020 have now lost their civil service status. The administrative court in Münster imposed the severest possible disciplinary measure.
Severest disciplinary penalty for fleeing during shooting in Ruhr Valley
The administrative court (VG) in Münster has dismissed two police officers from civil service on grounds of service misconduct. This is reported by n-tv. The women had abandoned their colleagues during a shooting in Gevelsberg in May 2020 instead of helping them.
The decision was made following a closed hearing on a disciplinary action brought by their employer. According to VG Münster, this constitutes the severest disciplinary measure possible in this case. The judgments are not yet final; an appeal to the higher administrative court is possible.
Background: 21 shots in seconds
The police officers – then 32 and 37 years old – happened upon a traffic stop in the southern Ruhr Valley in 2020. There, a motorist had opened fire on two traffic police officers. Within seconds, 21 shots were fired; one of the attacked officers survived only thanks to his bulletproof vest.
Rather than standing by their colleagues, the two police officers stopped a passing car and fled in it. They did not fire warning shots; they only alerted the control room later.
Already convicted criminally in 2022
In autumn 2022, the women were sentenced to four months' imprisonment suspended for each for attempted aggravated assault in office through omission. The now-concluded disciplinary action forms the second, civil service law component of the follow-up to the incident.
The disciplinary chamber of VG Münster considers the removal from civil service a proportionate consequence of the service misconduct found to have occurred.
Source: n-tv