Overview
- Police say the girl approached officers with two knives in her mother’s apartment, where a Taser and a service pistol were deployed during the encounter.
- The child had been reported missing from a residential care home in Münster and is dependent on vital medication, and both she and her mother are deaf.
- Authorities report the girl was struck in the abdomen and underwent surgery at Bochum Bergmannsheil, where her condition is described as critical but stable.
- Essen detectives are leading the inquiry under the Bochum prosecutor, with forensic testing and witness interviews pending and open questions on shot count, distance and communication efforts.
- The police union cites the danger posed by knives regardless of age and notes stricter legal limits on firing at minors under 14, while a criminologist urges a review of training for complex ‘knife situations’ involving vulnerable people.