Police officers justified in fatal shooting

16 February 2005

AMSTERDAM — No action will be taken against seven police officers who shot and killed a 20-year-old German man at a city park in Amsterdam in August last year, the Dutch public prosecutor said on Wednesday.

One day prior to his death, victim Michael Dautzenberg, of Nuremberg, had been involved in an incident at a police station in Amsterdam. He had threatened an officer with what later proved to be an air pistol.

The next day, he rang police from a city park, the Fredriksplein, claiming he wanted to talk. But when police arrived, he started to “shoot” at them, prompting police to fire 20 times in return. Dautzenberg was hit three times and died at the scene.

The circumstances of the man’s death were investigated and a reconstruction of the shooting took place in October 2004. The investigation was completed in December and the findings were presented to a commission for assessment.

The commission has since ruled that the police officers involved in the shooting should not be prosecuted for their actions, Dutch evening newspaper NRC reported.

In the first instance, the man started shooting at police and the fact he ran across the park indicated he was trying to escape, an event which could have posed a danger to the public and police.

The commission also said that police officers needed to use violence to arrest the suspect and to disarm him of what appeared at the time to be a real gun.

“In view of present information and the situation at the scene, the police officers have not transgressed the borders of proportionality and subsidiarity,” the commission ruled.

There was speculation after the killing that the victim might have deliberately provoked the police in what is commonly known as a “suicide by cop” incident.

Subject: Dutch news + German news