Overview
- Investigators say the girl emerged from the kitchen holding two larger kitchen knives and was immediately in front of officers when a Taser and a service weapon were deployed.
- The mother had opened the door around 1:30 a.m. but was then restrained in the hallway before officers entered the apartment, where the encounter occurred.
- Doctors operated on the child after a gunshot to the abdomen; her condition is described by authorities as critical but stable.
- The Essen murder commission is leading the case, and the officer who fired has been formally advised as a suspect and is exercising his right to remain silent.
- Police were searching for the child after a missing-person alert from a Münster care home citing her need for vital medication, and investigators are assessing what, if any, communication attempts with the deaf mother and daughter were made.