Dortmund
Police shooting trial: Defendant expresses regret
The accused police officers and their defense lawyers in the Dortmund regional court. photo
© Carsten Linnhoff/dpa
The death of a young refugee in September 2022 caused horror across the country. Shots were fired during the police operation in Dortmund. The shooter is now turning to his family.
In the trial of the fatal police shooting of a young refugee For the first time in Dortmund, one of the defendants expressed his regret. After his statement and questioning before the Dortmund regional court, which lasted over an hour, the 30-year-old police officer addressed his words directly to the victim’s brothers, who were present as co-plaintiffs.
“I express my condolences to the family. I am responsible for the death. It affects me very much and makes me sad. I cannot imagine what it means to lose a family member,” said the official, who has been suspended since September 2022. He doesn’t expect the family to forgive him. He sees the boy’s face in front of his eyes every day. When he chose his career, he always hoped that he would never find himself in such a situation, the official said.
The co-plaintiff’s lawyer, Thomas Feltes, welcomed the statement. The family was waiting for this. The 16-year-old victim died in hospital shortly after the shot was fired.
When describing the operation on August 8, 2022, the officer accused of manslaughter, like the head of operations on an earlier day of the trial, stuck to his assessment. The shots were fired because the 16-year-old Senegalese man was running towards his colleagues at high speed with a knife in his hand. When asked, he said there was no time for a warning shot. Mouhamed Dramé had previously sat in the courtyard of a youth welfare facility with a knife pointed at himself. Two officers had previously tried to disarm him using pepper spray. The Dortmund regional court must clarify why the situation, which was initially static and viewed as a suicide attempt, escalated.
The 55-year-old operations manager, two policewomen (29 and 34 years old) and another police officer (34) are also charged. While the latter is accused of causing grievous bodily harm in office through the unjustified use of pepper spray and Tasers, the public prosecutor’s office accuses the superior of inciting it.