Sensitive incident

Shot fired during league match: police officer on trial!

A police officer will stand trial in Augsburg district court on August 20 for firing a shot during the German Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach almost a year ago!

The then 27-year-old man is said to have fired a shot with his service weapon in the vicinity of the Augsburg stadium for no understandable reason. Three of the accused's colleagues suffered blast trauma and one police officer was injured by a shard of glass; the officers also suffered shock. The officer has been charged with dangerous bodily harm in the line of duty and damage to property.

Bullet smashed through the window of a police vehicle
The accused police officer belonged to a special unit of the Bavarian police. The officers of the so-called support squad are deployed at major events with a high potential for violence, among other things. The police officers were standing outside the stadium with their service vehicle so that they could intervene in the event of incidents during the match, which ended 4:4. According to the public prosecutor's office, the bullet pierced the window of an official vehicle in which four police officers were sitting and then hit an empty Gladbach fan support bus.

Four trial days are planned for the trial against the police officer, and a verdict could be reached on September 5 at the latest. A few days after the incident, the Bavarian riot police announced that a group around the officer had sprayed themselves with water before the incident due to the heat. It is unclear why the shot was fired in this situation. The riot police had suspended the officer after the incident, as the accused is also the subject of legal proceedings.