UPDATE, 4:00 PM: Bavaria’s Interior Minister, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), has no concrete explanations after a Bavarian police officer shot and nearly killed a Bundeswehr military policeman in Erding. Almost 48 hours after the incident, the highest-ranking official of the Bavarian police has only cited communication problems. “We will now review with the Bundeswehr and the responsible authorities where communication channels need to be improved. An incident like this must not happen again,” Herrmann stated in a release from his ministry.
Circumstances of the shooting remain unclear. Herrmann promised a comprehensive review. Cooperation between police and the Bundeswehr should continue and be strengthened despite the incident. “This incident will be intensively reviewed together to continue and further strengthen this cooperation in the future,” the Interior Minister emphasized.
A key point of the investigation concerns public information. The public must be informed early and transparently about exercises conducted by the Bundeswehr and police in public spaces. This apparently did not happen sufficiently. “We are currently examining why this was apparently not done sufficiently in this case and how we can improve the information chain in the future,” Herrmann said. No concrete measures to improve communication have been announced yet.
UPDATE, October 24, 1:00 PM: Erding’s Mayor, Max Gotz (CSU), has spoken out clearly about the exchange of fire between the Bundeswehr and police on Wednesday evening (October 22). He called the incident a “communication disaster.”
The mayor was not informed. He received a message from the city fire inspector shortly after 6 PM on Wednesday “that leaves you speechless: shootout in Altenerding,” Gotz described in an Instagram Reel by the city of Erding. The CSU politician also made it clear that “the city of Erding was not informed.”
Gotz concluded the Instagram post without differentiating between police and Bundeswehr: “In short, communication could not have been worse.” The 61-year-old made this statement in a measured tone despite the harsh words. He also announced that the city would “collect questions and direct them to those responsible, the participants, the Bundeswehr, and also the police.”
UPDATE, 5:06 PM: Police have released new information regarding the shootout between Bundeswehr soldiers and the police. According to them, all relevant stations were informed about the exercise; investigators are now looking into why an emergency call and the subsequent police operation happened anyway. These exercises, known as “Marshal Power,” were known to the Bavarian Police in advance. The official start of the first phase of the exercise scenario was scheduled for the following Thursday, October 23, 2025.
However, on the evening of October 22, military police forces had already moved into their operational areas around Altenerding as part of the so-called approach phase. “The exact connection between these military activities, an emergency call from the public, and the subsequent police operation is currently being investigated by the Landshut public prosecutor’s office,” the statement concluded.
UPDATE, 3:06 PM: There is still uproar over Wednesday evening’s incident in Erding, where police officers shot at Bundeswehr soldiers. The police recently referred to a communication failure as the cause. The responsible district administrator has now commented on this explanation—calling the case an “absolute catastrophe.”
“I am appalled by this incident, in which a soldier was hit and injured by live ammunition,” said District Administrator Martin Bayerstorfer (CSU). It must be ensured that something like this can never happen again. The district of Erding and the affected towns had been informed about the general procedure for the exercise in September 2025, but the exact details and timings were not communicated.
“The district office, as the lower disaster protection authority, and the disaster management team were not part of the exercise,” the statement said. The authority for communication lay solely with the Bundeswehr.
UPDATE, 12:18 PM: The “Marshal Power” military police exercise is set to continue on Thursday, October 23, from 1:00 PM, despite the previous day’s shootout, a spokesperson for the 3rd Military Police Regiment in Munich informed our media group. Parallel investigations into the cause of the incident continue. Forensic teams and the State Criminal Police Office are on site; it will take days to determine how many shots were even fired, a police spokesperson said.
It is certain: the military police, drawn from four federal states, are exercising in “open terrain,” away from secured Bundeswehr training grounds. The spokesperson said efforts were made to communicate this in advance but acknowledged that the information did not reach everyone.
UPDATE, 11:45 AM: Bavarian police are citing a communication breakdown as the reason for the serious incident in Erding, where a Bundeswehr soldier was shot during an exercise. “We did not know that an exercise was taking place there at that time,” a police spokesperson explained to the German Press Agency (dpa). The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon (October 22) when officers responded to reports of an armed man, leading to an exchange of fire with the soldier.
Although police were broadly informed about the large-scale “Marshal Power” exercise taking place over several days in various regions, they apparently had no specific information about the activity in Erding. “The police in Erding were not involved in yesterday’s exercise,” the spokesperson emphasized. The authority is now intensively reviewing where exactly the communication gap occurred.
The “Marshal Power” exercise was meant to train cooperation between military and civilian forces in a defense scenario—instead, it revealed significant coordination problems between the involved institutions.
UPDATE, October 23, 8:20 AM: Investigations are running at full speed after the serious incident in Erding, Upper Bavaria, where police officers shot a Bundeswehr soldier on Wednesday afternoon (October 22). “Subsequent investigations revealed that the reported armed individual was a member of the Bundeswehr who was on site as part of an exercise,” the Ingolstadt police headquarters announced. Authorities are now focused on clarifying the exact background of this incident, which occurred during the “Marshal Power” major exercise.
The affected soldier fortunately sustained only minor injuries. After brief hospital treatment, he was able to be released during the night. Both the police and the Bundeswehr acknowledged that a misinterpretation of the situation led to the exchange of fire. Witnesses had alerted the police after sighting an armed man, prompting numerous officers to rush to the scene.
The “Marshal Power” major exercise, which only began on Wednesday, was scheduled to last one week. Around 500 Bundeswehr military police and about 300 civilian personnel from police, fire departments, and rescue services are taking part. A special feature of this exercise is that it is not taking place on shielded military training grounds but deliberately in public to realistically simulate combat behind a fictional frontline in a defense scenario.
A police spokesperson confirmed on Thursday morning, October 23, that the investigation is continuing. Whether the military exercise would continue as originally planned was initially unclear. The investigations now focus on how this dangerous mix-up could occur despite the Bundeswehr’s prior announcement of the exercise.
UPDATE, October 22, 8:55 PM: What was supposed to be just a Bundeswehr military police exercise ended with two people injured, according to information obtained by our newspaper. Around 5:00 PM on Wednesday (October 22), residents saw individuals in camouflage and with long weapons at the ready moving across a field on the outskirts of Altenerding, a district of Erding. They notified the police.
Officers arrived, and residents heard several shots. According to our information, the participating soldiers may have believed the arriving police officers were part of the exercise. The exchange of fire ended with two people injured. Initial reports indicate a soldier sustained a graze wound to the face. The scene was subsequently dominated by emergency vehicles, blue lights, and officers in bulletproof vests.
The confusion triggered chaos in Erding. Streets around the area were blocked, and drivers were stuck in traffic. Football training at the Sepp-Brenninger-Stadion in Altenerding was interrupted. Players were ordered into the locker room for safety and remained there. All further training sessions were canceled. The area around Altenerding, particularly the clubhouse and sports grounds, was completely sealed off. “You can’t get in or out,” an eyewitness reported.
The major military police exercise “Marshal Power” is running in southern Bavaria until the end of the month. Our newspaper had announced this exercise, but this information apparently did not reach every police station.
INITIAL REPORT, October 22, 6:45 PM: Gunshots and a convoy of police cars with blue lights alarmed residents on the outskirts of Altenerding. The large-scale operation began around 5:00 PM on Wednesday. Officers in bulletproof vests and with submachine guns at the ready were seen.
The Upper Bavaria North Police Headquarters confirmed the operation but could not yet provide details. “We are on site with a strong force, secured by a police helicopter,” a spokesperson for the police headquarters explained. There is no danger to the public.
Due to the police operation in Altenerding, streets were blocked and football training was interrupted. According to eyewitnesses, the operation began shortly after 5:00 PM on the B388 road on the outskirts of Altenerding, near the road maintenance depot. Streets around the scene were blocked, and drivers were stuck in traffic.
Football training at the Sepp-Brenninger-Stadion in Altenerding was interrupted. Players were ordered into the locker room for safety and are waiting there. All further training sessions were canceled. The area around Altenerding, particularly the clubhouse and sports grounds, was completely sealed off. “You can’t get in or out,” an eyewitness reported.
Latest Posts
