After a police officer shot and killed an Iranian migrant in the German city of Lauf an der Pegnitz, located close to the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, public prosecutors are releasing more details of the case, which revealed just how dramatic the encounter was for the police officers involved.
The attack, which occurred on June 30, made headlines in Germany after dramatic footage showed the attacker lying on the ground with a gunshot wound. The incident also forced the scenic city to shut down its entire train station.
The facts now reveal that the attacker had stabbed a police trainee who was reportedly looking to become a police sergeant, according to Bild. The only thing that saved him from serious injury or potential death was the protective vest he was wearing at the time.
When a group of three officers arrived on scene to reports of a man with a knife, the Iranian man, who was gripping a knife in his hand, tried to open the police officers’ patrol car door. The officers managed to drive a few meters further, while the man hit their vehicle.
The officers then got out and pepper sprayed the Iranian man and even fired a warning shot into the air, but the Iranian still managed to charge them and stab the police trainee. The officer then shot the Iranian man in the stomach, killing him.
Public prosecutor Heike Klotzbücher told Bild that the Iranian man was a “tolerated” asylum seeker, which means he was rejected but was still allowed to stay in Germany. The man had been convicted of a number of offenses, but the prosecutor did not disclose what type of offenses.
Authorities have yet to establish a motive behind the attack and the case remains under investigation.
Images of the man lying on the ground were published on various news sites across Germany. The attack comes after a wave of knife attacks in Germany and violent incidents involving foreigners, with perhaps the most prominent case involving an Islamic Afghan knife attacker who managed to stab a German police officer to death in Mannheim. The known Islamist had lived in Germany illegally for eight years, according to police sources.
