The young offender sustained a serious gunshot wound to the upper body and underwent emergency surgery. The incident took an unexpected turn: the victim turned out not to be a resident, but a schoolboy from the Misbach district whose family has been fighting for years to secure the right to remain in Germany.
And although refugee status does not exempt anyone from the obligation to comply with German law, this incident has already been seized upon by numerous far-left activists to level yet another baseless accusation against the police. On the other hand, representatives of the AfD and other far-right organisations have run with the story, emphasising the supposed threat posed by all immigrants. This claim bears no relation to reality.
What preceded the shooting
According to Munich police, on Tuesday at approximately 17:15 the teenager was spotted in the area of Hohenzollernplatz U-Bahn station. Passersby noticed that he was openly holding an object that resembled a black pistol and called the police. One witness later recounted that he had heard the sound of a gunshot.
Upon receiving the alert, police dispatched several patrol units to the scene. According to police spokesperson Thomas Schelshorn, reports of an armed person are always treated with maximum seriousness, so significant police resources were deployed to search for the suspect.
After the teenager boarded a bus heading towards Kurfürstenplatz, plainclothes officers followed him and his companion. Both were apprehended only at the intersection of Herzogstraße and Belgradstraße.
The moment of fire
According to preliminary investigative findings, plainclothes officers observed the teenager producing an object resembling a combat pistol and making a motion as if cycling the weapon’s action. They ordered him to drop the pistol and turn around.
Instead, the schoolboy abruptly spun toward the officers while continuing to hold the object raised in their direction. One of the officers interpreted this as a threat to life and fired. The bullet struck the teenager in the upper body.
As it emerged later, the “weapon” was an airsoft replica of a Beretta 92, 9 millimeter caliber. A police spokesperson clarified that it would have been practically impossible to distinguish it from the genuine article. The sole distinguishing feature was a narrow red ring around the muzzle – imperceptible at a distance.
Investigation and police response
Immediately after the shot, the officers administered first aid to the teenager and called an ambulance. The circumstances are being investigated by the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA). Representatives of the office became involved in what had rapidly become a high-profile case. This follows standard internal safety protocol whenever a police officer discharges their service weapon.
The Munich prosecutors’ office has also opened a preliminary investigation to establish whether the use of force was lawful. The officer who fired is being questioned as a witness in the internal inquiry. According to police, his colleagues who participated in the apprehension are receiving psychological support. The discharge of a weapon is itself considered a severe ordeal for Bavarian police officers.
The teenager is now under investigation for threatening a police officer with a weapon while the officer was performing his duties. Police noted that the adolescent had come to the attention of investigators on multiple previous occasions.
Condition of the injured
After receiving first aid at the scene, the offender was transported to the on-call hospital and underwent surgery. According to the latest reports, his condition is assessed as stable.
What is known about the teenager
Witnesses and police officers at the scene initially assessed the young man to be considerably older than his actual age – they put him at approximately twenty years old.
Police later determined the teenager’s identity and his residential status in Germany:
- the teenager holds Turkish citizenship and lives in the Misbach district near Munich;
- according to police spokesperson Thomas Schelshorn, the teenager arrived in Germany with his parents in 2023;
- his family filed an asylum application;
- the application was rejected, and the teenager and his family face deportation.
The investigation into the circumstances of the shooting continues. For now, police and prosecutors are withholding additional details, and a final assessment of whether the officer’s actions were lawful will be made by the Department of Internal Security.
This incident has reignited discussion about how difficult it is to distinguish a weapon replica from a genuine firearm in the span of seconds – and what price wrongdoers sometimes pay when they decide to raise even a replica weapon toward an armed law enforcement officer.
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