Police report before the trial of fatal shots in Oldenburg

Before the trial began regarding the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Lorenz from a police weapon in Oldenburg, the court commissioned a police psychological report. The expert should evaluate human decision-making and action options from a psychological perspective. The district court in Oldenburg said that he also had to take into account whether a police officer had greater scope for action in such situations compared to average people. It was a very dynamic and complex sequence of events that took place in a very short period of time.

According to previous information, the public prosecutor's office assumes that the officer should have recognized, based on his training, that an immediate attack was not to be expected from Lorenz.

Lorenz shot from behind

The accused police officer is said to have shot the German from behind during an operation in Oldenburg's pedestrian zone on the night of Easter Sunday 2025. The investigation revealed that the officer fired five times within two seconds from a maximum distance of one and a half meters, hitting Lorenz four times - in the stomach, thigh, hip and head. Lorenz died in the hospital.

The police operation came about because passers-by reported an assault in downtown Oldenburg. Lorenz is said to have been involved.

Mistakenly assumed self-defense?

The police officer's defense asserted a situation of self-defense, while the public prosecutor's office assumed that the police officer mistakenly believed that he was in a situation of self-defense, according to the district court's press release. In the event that the public prosecutor's assumption is confirmed in the taking of evidence, the chamber must also examine whether the defendant was negligent in his error about the self-defense situation, the court continued.

Charge of involuntary manslaughter

Last November, the Oldenburg public prosecutor's office charged the officer with negligent homicide. The German assumed that Lorenz wanted to attack him with a knife and snatch the weapon away from him. In fact, the 21-year-old sprayed irritant gas but did not use a knife he was carrying, according to investigators. According to the prosecution, Lorenz wanted to flee at the time the shot was fired so as not to be arrested.

The young man's violent death caused horror far beyond the borders of the Lower Saxony city. People across the country took to the streets against police violence and racism. According to the “Justice for Lorenz” initiative, racism is the main cause of the black man’s death.