By Omar Bah
The German authorities have announced that its police officers who opened fire at a Gambian migrant acted within the remit of the law.
In March, Lamin Touray was killed by police officers in Nienburg with incident captured in a video widely circulating on social media, in which the police could be heard shooting Lamin many times. The autopsy report confirmed he was hit by eight shots, two of which led to his death.
Following the incident, German authorities established a full-fledged investigation led by a neutral police unit to establish the circumstances regarding the use of force that resulted in the death of Mr Touray.
But according to a statement seen by The Standard, the German authorities said the shots are justified in accordance with the regulations of the Lower Saxony Police Act.
“According to the relevant provisions of the Lower Saxony Police Act, firearms may only be used against persons as a last resort to make them incapable of attacking or fleeing. A shot that is almost certain to be lethal is not permissible if it is the only means to prevent an immediate danger to life or the current danger of serious injury. The assessment of this danger is based on the situation at the time of the use of firearm”, the authorities said
The statement added: “According to this and considering the facts described above, the findings suggest that the firearms were used as a last resort, as there was an imminent danger to life from the 46-year-old for the police officers.”
The statement added that means of de-escalation, such as extensive talks with multiple requests to drop the knife, the use of auxiliary means such as a pepper spray device and a service dog, and finally the threat of using firearms during the deployment, showed no effect and were exhausted unsuccessfully in the highly dynamic threat situation at the time of the shots fired.
“In this case, no complete projectile was found, so it was not possible to determine which service weapon fired the shot in question.”
Investigation
The German authorities have also terminated the investigation against 14 police officers related to shots fired from service weapons during a police operation on March 30, 2024, which resulted in the fatal injury of the Gambian.
“In the course of the investigation, the ammunition inventories of the service weapons were primarily examined, two bodycam recordings were evaluated, and a forensic report as well as a technical firearms report were obtained,” the German authorities added.
According to the investigation’s findings, the background to the police operation at the 46-year-old’s residence was an emergency call, which was classified as a threatening situation involving a knife.
“After multiple police officers arrived at the residence, threats were made, suggesting that the knife could be used to the disadvantage of the officers. When the door was forcibly opened, the 46-year-old allegedly dropped one knife from his hand. He then grabbed another knife in the living room, with which he approached the police officers. After being given verbal commands to drop the knife and not complying, the 46-year-old moved to the terrace area, where additional police officers were positioned. Despite repeated, multilingual communication attempts by the officers, asking him to put down the knife, the 46-year-old refused.”
The authorities said the situation escalated further when the 46-year-old, in the terrace/garden area of the residence, lunged at two officers with the knife, repeatedly attempting to stab them, with one of the stabs being deflected by a police shield.
“He then stood up again, holding the knife toward two other officers. As the threat intensified, several shots were fired at the 46-year-old in quick succession.”
