crime
Fatal police shots in Nienburg: body autopsied
Police forensics employees work at the crime scene in Nienburg. photo
© Moritz Frankenberg/dpa
A man was fatally injured in a major police operation. He is said to have previously threatened his girlfriend with a knife. Many questions are still unanswered.
The officer who was shot suffered “potentially life-threatening injuries” – “unfortunately,” said a spokeswoman for the Verden police on Easter Sunday. But her life is out of danger. Exactly how the injuries occurred and which police weapon she was shot with are now being investigated. According to earlier information from the Verden public prosecutor’s office and the Verden police station, the policewoman was “seriously injured when police firearms were used.” Other colleagues did not suffer any injuries. A police service dog was also injured. Nienburg is located about 50 kilometers northwest of Hanover.
Larger deployment in a terraced housing estate in Nienburg
The use of firearms by the police is relatively rare. Service weapons are often used to kill animals – usually after accidents involving wildlife. In 2021, for example, there were around 2,500 cases of firearms being used by the police in Lower Saxony; in two cases, according to previous information from the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior, these were directed against people.
Initially, there was a major police operation on Saturday morning in a terraced housing estate in downtown Nienburg because the 46-year-old was said to have threatened his girlfriend with a knife. The woman managed to escape. She called the police.
Then, according to the police, there was a “prolonged police operation.” The 46-year-old did not follow requests to de-escalate; instead, he is said to have attacked the officers and the dog with the knife. The police then fired several shots.
Many questions still remain unanswered
How the woman’s gunshot wounds came about will be the subject of extensive investigations. All police officers involved should be questioned and given psychological support, the spokeswoman said. For reasons of neutrality, the police in the neighboring district of Verden took over the investigation.
The police cordoned off the crime scene. Forensics teams arrived on Saturday afternoon. Wearing white suits, they secured evidence at the house and on the street and took photos. Because the crime occurred in a residential area, the police are looking for witnesses there.