A German-Turkish teenager shot dead a police officer during an attempted arrest in Völklingen, Saarland, on Thursday evening. Bild reports that the 18-year-old suspect had just robbed an Aral petrol station at knifepoint when two officers pursued him. During a struggle, he seized a service weapon and fired several times, killing a 34-year-old senior officer.
The officer was taken to Homburg University Hospital but died of his injuries. His colleague was unharmed but left in shock. The suspect sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken into custody.
Interior Minister Reinhold Jost called it one of Saarland’s “darkest days,” while state premier Anke Rehlinger said she was mourning with the officer’s family and colleagues. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt expressed his shock. Police later posted a tribute reading: “One of us. #WeMourn.”
