Asylum seeker shot dead by German police after knife attack

BERLIN -- A 27-year-old man was shot dead by police on Thursday morning in Wangen, the southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, according to a joint statement by local authorities.

The man, who had sought asylum in Germany, was wanted under a warrant issued by the public prosecutor's office in the city of Ulm. He had been ordered to serve a prison sentence for an assault offence.

Two police officers arrived at his residence to carry out the warrant but faced his attack with a knife. Police responded with gunfire, hitting him multiple times. He died despite immediate resuscitation efforts, the criminal police office in Stuttgart said.

One officer sustained serious stab wounds but is not in life-threatening condition.

Thomas Strobl, the state's interior minister, condemned the attack and defended the officers' use of weapons. "Anyone who attacks a police officer with a knife risks their life," he said.

According to the German Press Agency, Baden-Wurttemberg police have used firearms seven times so far in 2025. In April, police shot and killed a man who attacked officers with an axe near the Swiss border. Days earlier, another man was fatally shot after pointing a firearm at police and refusing repeated orders to drop it.

Last year, police in the state opened fire on people 13 times — the highest number in several years — resulting in three deaths and nine wounds, according to the state interior ministry.