Berlin, Germany – A record 22 people were shot dead by German police in 2024, a dpa analysis found on Tuesday, representing the highest number of casualties in police shootings this century.
The figure – collected in a dpa analysis of police reports – was more than double that of previous years, with 10 people shot dead by German police in 2023, 11 in 2022 and eight in 2021.
In the majority of cases, the fatal shots were fired in situations in which the officers encountered unstable or distressed people. Several of them were carrying knives.
Historic statistics from the Civil Rights and Police publication suggest the figure for 2024 could be the highest since German reunification in 1990, with previous highs of 19 deaths recorded in 1995 and 1999.
Among the people killed in German police shootings in 2024 was a man who stole an excavator in the southern town of Grünsfeld on New Year’s Eve, ramming vehicles and buildings and injuring several police officers in a long chase.
Another case saw a 31-year-old woman shot dead in a Munich supermarket after attacking officers with a knife.