Twelve-year-old deaf-mute little girl originally from Serbia is still in critical condition in the intensive care unit after being shot police in Bochum, Germany on Monday night.
The drama that unfolded in an apartment building ignited a debate about police methods with the question - couldn't it have been done differently?
The girl, whose initials have not been disclosed but only that she is a German-Serbian citizen, lived in a so-called housing group in Münster under the supervision of a teacher since her mother was deprived of custody. On Sunday (November 16), authorities were reported missing.
The police were alerted in Bochum, where the mother lives - she is also deaf and mute. The policemen waited in front of the door for an hour in the wee hours, knowing that neither the mother nor the girl could hear the bell or the knocking. When their mother finally opened it, they saw a little girl.
According to the police statement, the child came out of the room with two knives and "started" at the police officers. One tried to use a stun gun, but the other fired a gun, seriously wounding the girl in the stomach. The investigation was taken over by the police in the neighboring Ruhr area of Essen.
Criminologist Tobias Zingelstein of the University of Frankfurt said that police officers in Germany are trained to routinely shoot people with knives if they approach them within ten meters, which was certainly the case in the apartment. He criticized such training.
The Tageskeitung newspaper criticizes the media for simply reporting the police version of events.
The mother of the seriously wounded girl gave a written interview to RTL in which she could not explain why her daughter had knives. She allegedly came to her because it was difficult for her because of fights at school. "She said she couldn't take it anymore," the mother said.
Police officers in Germany have been the target of knife attacks more often lately. Annually, around one hundred shots are fired from firearms throughout the country, killing an average of ten people.
