Death in Dortmund: 16 shot dead by the police

The teenager shot dead by a police officer with a submachine gun in Dortmund on Monday was in a psychiatric ward shortly before the crime.

He went there himself because of psychological problems, said a spokesman for the Dortmund public prosecutor's office on Wednesday.

The "image" had previously reported about it.

The police were called on Monday afternoon to a youth welfare facility to which the 16-year-old had been assigned.

According to the prosecutor, he was an unaccompanied minor refugee from Senegal.

According to prosecutors, the teenager had a knife with him.

What he originally intended to do with it

whether he wanted to hurt himself or others as well

is still unclear.

There were suicidal intentions in the room, said the spokesman for the public prosecutor's office.

The teenager is said to have attacked the police officers with a knife.

The officers used tear gas and tasers.

Finally, a 29-year-old police officer shot six times with a submachine gun.

The 16-year-old was shot five times and died in hospital.