Police said they shot a man who ran at them with a knife. It was the second time German police had shot someone in just a few days.
German police fatally shoot suspect after knife attack

Police said they shot a man who ran at them with a knife. It was the second time German police had shot someone in just a few days.

Police killings doubled from 2023 to 2024, according to reports [FILE: September 2024]

In Herne, a city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, police officers shot a man dead after he reportedly attacked them with a knife.

German tabloid Bild reported that the man was 51 years old and had harassed his neighbor with a knife that morning. When the police arrived at the scene, he reportedly threw objects out his window at the police cars, breaking the glass.

Police said that after they entered the house to confront the man, he ran at them with a knife. The officers then shot him.

The man received medical attention at the site but they were not able to save his life.

Knife and police violence in Germany
The incident comes just a few days after a man was fatally shot by police officers in nearby Dortmund.

Two other high-profile knife attacks have already occurred this year: a stabbing in Berlin last month and a deadly attack in Bavaria in January.

The spate of attacks has influenced political discourse in Germany, as major political parties used the incidents to promote their tough-on-crime agendas.

At the same time, police violence has increased dramatically.