A person shot within the leg by police in Hamburg hours earlier than town hosted its first Euro 2024 match on Sunday has been charged with tried manslaughter.
The person was seen wielding what police described as a pickaxe or axe-like object and a Molotov cocktail – a home-made incendiary machine – within the metropolis’s St Pauli district, reportedly in an space the place a lot of Netherlands supporters had gathered forward of their match towards Poland.
Police stated the person was shot within the leg when he didn’t heed a request to drop the Molotov cocktail. Police stated on Sunday the person was taken to hospital, however he appeared earlier than magistrates in Hamburg on Monday.
A press release from the Legal professional Common’s Workplace in Hamburg stated: “The temporary confinement of the person concerned has just been ordered.
“He’s charged with tried manslaughter and crimes beneath the Weapons Act. He didn’t present any details about the accusation through the presentation.”
The Hamburg prosecutors said the case had now been taken over by the Central Office for State Security due to “the importance of the matter and the nonetheless unclear background of the crime”.
‘Incident not football-related’
Sky Sports activities Information’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol in Gelsenkirchen:
“After the Dutch fans had marched down the Reeperbahn – one of the main streets in Hamburg – an incident that’s been captured on video where somebody dressed in all black, holding a small pickaxe appears to threaten a group of German police officers.
“They tried to calm him down however when it appeared like he was threatening them, it seems they used pepper spray on him which induced him to run away. He was chased by law enforcement officials who appeared to shoot him within the leg.
“We are being told that he is receiving hospital treatment and the German authorities say they believe this incident wasn’t football related, even though it happened very close to the kick-off of this game and very close to where lots of Dutch fans had been congregating.”