Fatal knife attack in Munich: Police under pressure after incident!

Fatal knife attack in Munich: Police under pressure after incident!

In the early hours of the morning after a tragic incident at Theresienwiese in Munich, in which a 30-year-old woman was injured by police shots, the situation remains tense for everyone involved. The woman had attacked passers-by with a knife and tried to attack police officers before being shot and taken to hospital, where she later died. Details about the exact circumstances are scarce, as both the police and the public prosecutor's office have not yet been able to provide any information about the investigation; the number of officers and shots fired remains unknown. This is the third fatal incident in Munich resulting from police shooting - a worrying trend in just one year. As the South Germans Reportedly, similar incidents last occurred in 2010, when a mentally ill woman was shot dead by police.

How this incident came about is still unclear. However, information says that the woman had previously rioted in a supermarket and was then brought in for inspection by the police. After about 30 minutes in which she calmed down, she was released without further action because no danger to herself or others could be determined. Shortly afterwards the knife attack occurred. Witnesses reported that there was only two meters between the woman and the police officers when shots were fired. Despite repeated requests to put the knife away, no warning shots were fired. Investigations into the exact processes are still pending.

Urgent need for action

The incident has reignited the debate about how police deal with people in mental health crises. Since 2019, police officers in Germany have shot a total of 37 people in comparable situations. Experts demand how daily news states that there is an urgent need for better training and preparation of officials in order to be able to adequately deal with such situations. However, there is currently a lack of money and staff, which makes implementing training measures significantly more difficult. Only three federal states have introduced mandatory training for dealing with mentally ill people.

Another topic that is being raised in the discussion is the demand for the police to be equipped with Tasers. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann are committed to this. However, experts point out that to use a Taser effectively, a distance of around seven meters is required. A Taser deployment would probably not have been able to prevent the use of firearms in the current incident.

The social and legal consequences of such incidents are profound. According to current statistics, around 97% of investigations against police officers are dropped and the legal processing of these incidents often remains inadequate. It remains to be seen how the investigation surrounding this case develops and what measures will be taken to learn from this tragedy and avoid similar incidents in the future.