Death of Lorenz A. | 21 days of trial for fatal shooting from behind

The Justice for Lorenz initiative at a rally one year after the fatal police shooting of Lorenz. Photo: dpa/Izabela Mittwollen Oldenburg. The shooter will have to answer in court next year for the death of 21-year-old Lorenz A. in Oldenburg. The 4th Large Criminal Chamber of the Oldenburg Regional Court dated the trial days from January 18, 2027 to June 16, 2027, a total of 21 sessions. The court announced this on Thursday.

On the night of Easter Sunday 2025, the officer shot A. in downtown Oldenburg. According to the prosecution, he fired five shots, the victim was no more than one and a half meters away. Four projectiles hit Lorenz A. - in the head, stomach, hip and thigh. He died shortly afterwards in a clinic.

The public prosecutor's office charges the police officer with negligent homicide. He believed – albeit wrongly – to be in self-defense. According to the investigators, as an officer with his training, he should have recognized that the 21-year-old was not attacking, but was fleeing.

According to the public prosecutor's office, the fleeing A. did not commit any violence, but the defendant did. He tried to bring Lorenz A. to the ground with a kick to the knee. The 21-year-old responded with pepper spray. Then the police officer shot - according to the public prosecutor's office, "negligently backwards, disregarding a self-defense situation that no longer existed."

The police had previously claimed that A. had approached the officers in a “threatening” manner. A video is now supposed to prove the opposite.

The case sparked nationwide protests against police violence and racism. The “Justice for Lorenz” initiative sees racism as the main cause of the black man’s death. It is rare in Germany for a police officer to be charged with such fatal shots. Most proceedings are discontinued.

The parents of the killed Lorenz A. are co-plaintiffs. The hearing room only offers space for 50 spectators. The court had reportedly searched for a larger space without success. nd

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