Overview
- The operation began after a 14:40 emergency call reporting multiple damaged vehicles and a witness threatened with a knife in Wattenscheid-Leithe.
- A 28-year-old suspect refused to be detained as special units negotiated for hours while he held a long knife to his throat, according to police.
- Authorities sealed a stretch of Berliner Straße, urged people to avoid the area, and deployed fire and emergency medical teams that illuminated the scene.
- Initial reports say officers intervened at about 20:25 and fired shots that injured the man, who was transported to a hospital and was not believed to be in life-threatening condition.
- The Polizeipräsidium Essen, under the direction of the Bochum public prosecutor, has taken over the case as investigators review how the shooting unfolded.