Listed below are people killed by non-military law enforcement officers in Germany after reunification on 3 October 1990, whether or not in the line of duty, irrespective of reason or method. Included, too, are cases where individuals died in police custody due to applied techniques. Inclusion in the list implies neither wrongdoing nor justification on the part of the person killed or the officer involved. The listing simply documents occurrences of deaths and is not complete.
Statistics +YearNumber killed by use of firearms (official statistics)Zahlen ab 1996 nach: Clemens Lorei: Statistiken im Zusammenhang mit dem polizeilichen Schusswaffeneinsatz , Verwaltungsfachhochschule Hessen – Fachbereich Polizei, Stand: 17. August 2014Zahlen von 1963 - 1969, nur BRD nach: Heiner Busch (Mitverfasser) et.al.: Die Polizei in der Bundesrepublik, Ausgabe von 1988Number killed by any means (counted)Number ofshots fired on personsZahlen von 1976 - 1983 nach: Heiner Busch (Mitverfasser) et.al.: Die Polizei in der Bundesrepublik, Ausgabe von 19882020152075202181551202211 (e.g. )186020231014662024227520251711520268Sum 91 251
2020
Date(YYYY-MM-TT) Name Age Place State Summary of events 2020-01-06 Bulğu, Mehmet 37 GelsenkirchenNordrhein-Westfalen A Turkish national was damaging a patrol car with a baton outside of a police station. Two officers, aged 23 and 41, confronted the man, who then attacked them. The younger police recruit issued repeated verbal warnings, ordering the attacker to drop both the baton and a knife he was holding in the other hand. The officer fired four shots the man, hitting the man at least once and killing him. Although the man had yelled "Allahu Akbar" and was stated to have previously claimed allegiance to the Islamic State, an investigation concluded that he was mentally ill (the man had said he used to live in the territory of the Islamic State and that "Nazi Germany broke [his] brain") and had no verifiable ties to any terrorist organisation. He had a lengthy criminal record for slander and property damage, most recently an incident in which he tried to log a piece of forest to "build a shrine to Allah" without a permit. 2020-01-24 B., Maria 33 BerlinBerlin A man called police because his roommate, who had suspected mental and drug problems, was threatening him with a knife at their apartment in Friedrichshain. She refused to leave her room when four officers arrived and attacked them when they opened the door. After issuing several warnings, a 28-year-old officer then fatally shot her once in the torso. The woman's death was heavily protested due to unfounded claims that she was killed due to her links with the local antifa movement. Neighbors also pointed out that the deceased, who suffered from multiple sclerosis and weighed in at less than 50 kg, should have been easily overpowered by four armed officers. 2020-02-03 N.N. 66 VellmarHessen Two police officers stopped and arrested a drunk driver suspected of crashing his vehicle. During the drive, as they were about to reach the police station for the suspect to undergo a blood test, the man pulled out a knife and threatened to stab the officer next to him. Both officers exited the car and locked the man inside, but after cutting himself with the weapon and breaking the car window, he stepped out and rushed at the officers, who opened fire. He was shot multiple times as the initial shot did not slow his advance, causing his death at the scene shortly after. The three officers involved were investigated, but not charged in March 2021.2020-02-14N.N.30BerlinBerlinA police car was responding to a call about an ongoing armed robbery when the officers struck and killed a pedestrian in Marzahn. The man had been obscured behind a parked bus at the stop. No investigation occurred after the officer driving passed an alcohol test and was found to have upheld the speed limits. However, the officer was ultimately sentenced to a 7800 euro fine in a civil lawsuit in 2025 as he had turned off the police siren seconds before the collision, making the death negligent on the officer's part. 2020-04-03 F., Annabelle 10 VogtareuthBayern 36-year old federal police officer Ramona F. killed both of her daughters with her service pistol, before killing herself. It was initially reported by media that the lingering effects of abuse during the officer's childhood and workplace bullying were considered factors in the killings, but the latter was refuted by investigators, who believed that the married officer was motivated by her lover breaking up with her.F., Vivien 122020-04-16N.N.32DüsseldorfNordrhein-WestfalenFollowing a family dispute in Lierenfeld, a man threatened his parents with a crossbow and a gun, firing several gunshots from a window. When SEK arrived, the man was seen handling a makeshift explosive before he shot a police dog with a bolt and shot at the officers with his firearm. He was fatally wounded when police returned fire and died at the scene.2020-04-25N.N.40DormagenNordrhein-WestfalenPolice were called to a house after reports came in of a possible violent crime having taken place. At the scene, officers were met with a "suspicious individual", who was fatally shot once under unclear circumstances and died despite immediate resuscitation attempts. A search of the house revealed that the deceased had murdered his 74-year-old father.2020-04-28N.N.26HarsumNiedersachsenA couple in Hüddessum called police because their son was trying to kick down their front door. The son attacked the two responding officer with a pitchfork, heavily injuring them, before he was shot twice in the legs by a 58-year-old officer, later dying at a hospital.2020-05-08N.N.67OsnabrückNiedersachsenA man was supposed to be involuntarily committed to a mental institution when he attacked the workers sent to fetch him. Three police officers were sent to assist and were attacked by the man with a knife. He was then shot twice and was found dead after he retreated back to his flat.2020-05-26Bündgens, Peter37AachenNordrhein-WestfalenOn 25 May, two mental patients with convictions for robbery escaped a psychiatric hospital in Bedburg-Hau after threatening two nurses with a knife. They engaged police in a car chase before one of them took a woman hostage at a school playground. After ignoring several warnings, the hostage-taker was fatally shot by two officers, who each fired one shot. The other man, 47-year-old Stefan Kümmel, who had been threatening a young mother from a distance, then surrendered and was arrested without incident. 2020-06-18 Idrissi, Mohamed 54 BremenBremen Police were called to assist a landlady and housing staff in Gröpelingen during the inspection of an apartment, as the resident, who was due to be evicted for causing water damage, had known mental issues; he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was known to compulsively flood his apartment for "cleaning". Although the man was cooperative during the inspection, officers wanted to bring him to the police station to evaluate his state of mind as they found the landlady's request unusual, suspecting he might be a danger to others since the water damage could have caused electrical accidents. The man refused and pulled out a knife after being confronted in the courtyard by the two officers, who had called two plainclothed officers as backup. Cell phone video by a neighbour showed that the officers talked to the man for several minutes, attempting to convince him to lay down the knife. He was eventually startled by an officer's movement, adopting a "boxer pose", causing a 23-year-old officer to use pepper spray on the man, who proceeded to charge at the officer. After taking several steps backwards, the officer shot his attacker twice, leading to his death at a hospital. As the deceased was originally from Morocco, a racial debate ensued in regards to the police's seemingly unorganised actions, including that the officers had failed to wait for medical professionals with a background in psychology to show up before informing the man about an evaluation. 2020-06-18 Diallo, Mamadou Alpha 23 TwistNiedersachsen A Guinean asylum seeker threatened several persons inside a doctor's office and the nearby apartment building he lived in with a knife. He was shot in the leg by a police officer. He died in a hospital the next morning. 2020-07-07 N.N. 57 MainzRheinland-Pfalz A Russian man attacked a 76-year-old neighbour with a knife in a senior citizen community, injuring him in the face and arm. He barricaded himself in his apartment afterwards and as police were waiting for SEK to arrive, the man opened the door and walked towards the officers with his knife drawn. After pepper spray and a taser shot didn't stop him, police fired four gunshots, with three fatally hitting the man, who died at the scene.2020-07-15N.N.29Bad SchussenriedBaden-WürttembergTwo mental patients escaped from a psychiatric facility where they had both been involuntarily committed for numerous years. When they were caught by three police officers, the pair, both armed with knives, threatened the officers, with the male patient chasing after one of them while the 43-year old female patient kept the other two at bay. The officer eventually shot his pursuer in the hip, while the other two shot the woman in the thigh. The woman survived with critical injuries while the man died at a hospital. 2020-10-05 N.N. 54 LeichlingenNordrhein-Westfalen Police officers were called to help in a case of a family dispute. A man was in a fight with his sister. To stop the martial artists heavy resistance, he was fixated on the ground where he suffered a cardiac arrest.2020-10-16N.N.40MünsterNordrhein-WestfalenAn inmate convicted of resisting arrest took a 29-year-old female guard-in-training hostage with a double-sharpened toothbrush shiv and demanded a getaway helicopter, despite being due to be released on 10 November. After three hours, the inmate was shot four times by SEK to save the guard's life, partially owing to him being noted "unpredictable"; the hostage later stated that the inmate, a known alcoholic, claimed to be "the son of the Virgin Mary" and "Thor from the movies", and insisted he needed to be released to "get to a red house in Spain to get [his] hammer to defeat the coronavirus". He had a prior record for the attempted murder of his own mother.2020-10-30N.N.30DornstettenBaden-WürttembergA police car responding to a call struck and killed a pedestrian while driving on B28. The woman was jaywalking and had suddenly stepped onto the highway, with investigators unable to confirm whether it was an accident or suicide.2020-11-10I., Rosario46TegernseeBayernAn Italian man had taken his long-time girlfriend, a 25-year-old Romanian national, and their infant son hostage. He refused to listen to police and demanded to speak to his adult son. After the son was unable to convince his father to surrender, officers stormed the premises and fatally shot the man after he stabbed his girlfriend. Both died of their injuries at the scene.2020-11-12N.N.58ErligheimBaden-WürttembergA bank employee reported a pair of suspicious men lurking outside her workplace. One of the robbers was shot after he attacked police with a 35 cm long screwdriver. He and a 29-year-old accomplice had attempted to break open an ATM with explosives. The deceased robber, a Lithuanian national, was found to have been wanted throughout Europe for similar crimes and was most recently linked to a bank heist on 20 October, when he and his new partner blew up several ATMs in Besigheim and stole 135,000 euro.
2021