Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) has promised a thorough investigation of the incident in Dortmund, in which a heart patient collapsed after the police used a Taser and later died. The investigations are still in their infancy, Reul said on Thursday in the state parliament's interior committee. He will give a more detailed report at next Thursday's meeting. At present, the knowledge is still too poor. "We also want to give the Recklinghausen police and the public prosecutor's office time to investigate."
This year there have been a good 250 Taser operations in the NRW police security service, said Reul. In about 50 cases, shots were fired. Most of the time, the threat of the Taser was enough. But even such cases would be registered as an operation. So far there has not been a death. Whether the use of the taser contributed to the death of the man in this case will be finally clarified.
The 44-year-old died on Wednesday night after using a taser in Dortmund. According to the autopsy, the man had a serious heart condition and was also under the influence of alcohol. According to the police and the public prosecutor's office, a causal relationship between the use of the distance electrostimulation device and the occurrence of death could not be established with certainty. How high the man's blood alcohol level was and whether other drugs were consumed are currently being investigated, said Reul.
According to the public prosecutor's office, there is no initial suspicion against the three police officers involved in the operation. Reul also emphasized that the officials were not accused of criminal proceedings. For reasons of neutrality, the police from neighboring Recklinghausen took over the investigations into the Dortmund case.
For the Dortmund police, it is the second fatal operation within 73 days. On August 8, a 16-year-old refugee from Senegal was shot dead by a police officer in Dortmund. Tasers had also been used during this operation, but had not had the intended effect. The Recklinghausen police are also investigating in this case.
