Fatal police operation in Recklinghausen: Knife attacker shot

Fatal police operation in Recklinghausen: Knife attacker shot

In Recklinghausen, a police firearm used on a Wednesday evening to a tragic incident. A 33-year-old man who was apparently in a state of frenzy was met. The situation apparently escalated when the law enforcement officers arrived after residents alerted the police. Witnesses reported a threatening appearance of the man who carried a knife with him.

When the police arrived, the situation was perceived as threatening, which caused a firearm use. It is currently still unclear how many civil servants were on site and who has fired the weapon. A spokesman for the Dortmund police stated that the criminal police took over the investigation to avoid conflicts of interest.

a worrying series of incidents

In a short episode, there were other tragic events in the region. It is worrying that another knife attacker in Moers was killed by police delets just a day before. The 26-year-old man, who had stimulated on the police in a public place with two knives, reported on psychological problems. The police had alerted several emergency calls after the man threatened passers -by.

The incident in Recklinghausen comes just a few days after a presumably Islamist attack in Solingen, in which a 26-year-old Syrian killed three people with a knife on Friday evening and injured eight more. These events throw a disturbing light on the increase in the knife violence throughout the country and have alerted the authorities.

political reactions and measures

In order to react to the increasing violence with knives, the North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) recently presented a ten-point program. This is intended to reduce the knife violence in public space. According to a new position, the number of reported cases in NRW has increased by almost 43 percent, which corresponds to a total of 3,540 documented incidents.

Shortly after the presentation of the new program, the police in Recklinghausen became active again and temporarily arrested a 49-year-old man. He is accused of having injured a 53-year-old with a knife in an apartment building. The victim was taken to the hospital while the police secured the alleged tool.

The incidents in Recklinghausen and Moers not only raise questions about security in public spaces, but also about the mental health of the perpetrators. It remains to be seen how the authorities will react to the current challenges and whether the measures taken can have an effect.