After a suspected knife attack on police officers in Nienburg an der Weser in Lower Saxony, a 46-year-old man was fatally injured by gunfire. The man is said to have previously threatened his girlfriend with a knife, the police said. A policewoman was also shot and seriously injured during the operation. She was taken to a clinic in a rescue helicopter. There was no danger to life. The police did not provide any further information about how their colleague was injured. A police service dog was also injured during the operation.
Initially, there was a major police operation in a row of houses in downtown Nienburg due to a threat, as a police spokeswoman said. The 46-year-old is said to have threatened his girlfriend with a knife. The woman managed to escape. She called the police.
According to the police, a “long-term” operation then began. The man is said to have failed to comply with the police officers’ requests and ultimately attacked them with a knife. The officers fired several shots, which fatally injured the 46-year-old .
Police from neighboring district take over
When asked, the police spokeswoman did not provide any information about how exactly the escalation occurred and whether police officers were injured by the knife. There was also no further information about the threatened woman’s health. For reasons of neutrality, the investigation should be taken over by the police in the neighboring district of Verden.
The exact circumstances of the operation remained unclear. An eyewitness reported to the newspaper “Die Harke” that the police officers let the service dog off the leash after the man did not follow police instructions. The man is then said to have stabbed the dog. According to the report, police officers then tried to overpower the man. When this failed, shots are said to have been fired.
The police cordoned off a large area of the crime scene. In the afternoon, forensic teams arrived. Wearing white suits, they secured evidence at the house and on the street and took photos.
