The lawyer for a 12-year-old deaf girl shot in Bochum accuses police of manipulative press work. The family describes a panic situation caused by officers, while police claim self-defense. Investigations are ongoing.
In the night of November 17, a 12-year-old deaf girl was critically injured during a police operation in Bochum. The girl had previously gone missing from a residential group in Münster and traveled to her mother, as she needed vital medications, according to police statements.
The victim's lawyer, Simón Barrera González, sharply criticized the police narrative. He accused authorities of propping up a questionable self-defense claim before investigations concluded, which could influence criminal proceedings and raise doubts about objectivity. "So etwas prägt Strafverfahren und nährt gleichzeitig Zweifel an der Objektivität der ermittelnden Behörden," Barrera González told dpa.
According to the family, police first cut the power in the apartment. When the also deaf mother opened the door, she was forced to the ground at gunpoint and restrained. "Die Polizei hat da aus meiner Sicht einen Zugriff inszeniert, wie man ihn gegen organisierte Kriminalität erwarten dürfte, aber doch nicht, um ein vermisstes zwölfjähriges Mädchen zu suchen," the lawyer stated.
Police reported that the mother blocked access and was therefore restrained. The girl then attacked the entering officers with two kitchen knives. Relatives stated, however, that the knives came into play only in a panic situation created by the police. There was no imminent attack, and officers could have withdrawn, Barrera González emphasized.
The Essen police homicide squad questioned all relevant witnesses promptly, including the mother and brother with sign language interpreters. A spokesperson stressed: "We have tried to report as objectively as possible based on the evidence and statements from all involved witnesses what happened that night." A court will decide on the legality of the officers' actions after investigations conclude.