Trial over the death of Lorenz A.: Police psychologist should examine the question of self-defense

epd | In the case of Lorenz A., who was killed by police shots, the Oldenburg regional court has appointed a psychological expert. Professor Mario Staller should check whether the accused police officer had to understandably come to the conclusion that he had to defend himself due to the situation or whether he could have avoided his mistake, said a spokesman for the regional court. A date for a trial has not yet been set.

Staller works at the North Rhine-Westphalia University of Police and Public Administration in Gelsenkirchen. There he researches, among other things, police operations, individual violence and conflict actions, as well as corresponding education and training structures in the police.

Lorenz A. died on April 20, 2025 in downtown Oldenburg. According to the autopsy results, he was hit in the back by three police bullets. At the center of the public debate is the question of possible racism in the police because the man killed was black.

The regional court had already admitted the charges against the then 27-year-old police officer to the main proceedings in mid-July. The Oldenburg public prosecutor's office accuses the man of having fired the fatal shots at the fleeing Lorenz A. "negligently, backwards, ignoring a self-defense situation that no longer existed."

The person killed had allegedly previously used irritant gas against the defendant, but not a knife. At the time of the shooting, Lorenz A. just wanted to escape. The defendant could have recognized this.

According to the court spokesman, the defense is assuming a situation of self-defense. However, the public prosecutor's office assesses the case as a so-called putative self-defense and therefore assumes that the self-defense situation is only subjective. The court must examine whether the defendant was negligent in his error about the self-defense situation.

Negligence requires that the person acting could have foreseen and avoided the violation. The expert explained that the expert should also take into account the possibly enhanced skills of police officers compared to average people.