Status: 01/31/2022 12:18 p.m
After the deadly shots at two young police officers in the district of Kusel, politicians are shocked. Interior Minister Faeser assured her Rhineland-Palatinate colleague Lewentz “all the support” in the search for the perpetrators.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reacted with great dismay to the violent death of two police officers during a vehicle check in Rhineland-Palatinate. “Regardless of the motive behind the act, this act is reminiscent of an execution and it shows that police officers risk their lives every day for our security,” said the SPD politician. “My thoughts are with the families, friends and colleagues of the victims. We will do everything we can to arrest the perpetrators.”
Faeser said she offered the Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Roger Lewentz all the support needed to arrest the perpetrators as quickly as possible and for the investigation.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing and his counterpart in Mainz, Daniela Schmitt, were shocked. Wissing, who is also the head of the FDP in Rhineland-Palatinate, wrote on Twitter: “An act that shocks and stuns. With my thoughts, my sadness and my sympathy, I am with the victims, their relatives and friends as well as their colleagues …”. The FDP politician Schmitt spoke on Twitter of an “incomprehensible and cruel act”.
The Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer and Interior Minister Roger Lewentz were “deeply shocked”. “Our thoughts are with the relatives,” said a statement from the two SPD politicians. “The act is appalling. We are deeply saddened that two young people lost their lives in the line of duty.”
Mourning flags in Rhineland-Palatinate
Due to the events, Dreyer, in agreement with the Minister of the Interior, ordered mourning flags to be displayed in the state as a visible sign of mourning. Black ribbons are provided for all patrol cars in the country.
The designated Greens leader Omid Nouripour described the violent death as “extremely depressing”. Police officers were doing their service for the greater good, working “millions of hours and overtime” just in the pandemic. He expressed his condolences to the bereaved.
The Rhineland-Palatinate CDU state chairwoman Julia Klöckner was “shocked” by the act. “Two police officers who were doing their job were shot. Two officers who were there for our security, who have now become victims of incredible violence themselves,” said Klöckner. She expressed “full solidarity” with the families and relatives of the victims.
The police union (GdP) said it was “devastated by the violent death of a colleague”. “Our thoughts are with the relatives of the two dead and also with all colleagues. We are living through the real nightmare of all police officers,” said state chairwoman Sabrina Kunz.
Killed officers were on routine duty
During a traffic check in Rhineland-Palatinate during the night, a policewoman and a policeman from the Kusel Police Inspectorate were fatally injured by shots. The officers were on a routine patrol, police said. The fatal shots were fired at around 4:20 a.m. during a traffic check on District Road 22 in Ulmet. You could have sent a radio message, said a police spokesman.
When reinforcements arrived at the scene, it was already too late for the 24-year-old and her 29-year-old colleague.
Don’t pick up hitchhikers
The police said an intensive search was being carried out for the fleeing perpetrators. Traces were secured at the scene of the crime. According to the information, there is no description of the perpetrators or the escape vehicle used. The direction of escape is also not known.
The police are asking residents in the Kusel district not to pick up hitchhikers. At least one suspect is armed.
Johanna Wahl, SWR, with information on the fatal shots at two police officers in Rhineland-Palatinate
tagesschau24 09:00 a.m., 31.1.2022