In Pärnu, police officer shoots man after he pointed object at officer — ERR News

In Pärnu, Estonia, a police officer shot dead a 54-year-old man who, according to police, pulled out an object resembling a firearm and pointed it at a law enforcement officer. The man died at the scene of the incident on Sadama Street in the city center.

As ERR News reports, the events were preceded by a call to emergency services at around 13:00. The man said that he had shot his wife. Police checked the information, established the address of the phone number’s owner and entered his apartment, but found no one there. Later, law enforcement officers contacted the woman mentioned in the call: she was unharmed and had not been in contact with the man.

Confrontation on Sadama Street

At around 14:00, police received a report that a man had shown a group of children on Sadama Street an object resembling a pistol and then left. A patrol found a person matching the description on the same street.

According to Üllar Kütt, head of an Estonian Police and Border Guard Board station, officers ordered the man to show his hands and lie on the ground. He did not comply and began moving toward the police officers. The man then pulled an object resembling a weapon from behind his waistband. After a repeated order to lower it, he, according to the police version, pointed the object at one of the officers.

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The police officer fired one shot from his service weapon and hit the man in the chest. Rapid response officers provided him with first aid and attempted resuscitation, which medics continued after arriving. The man could not be saved. No other people were injured during the incident.

Investigation underway

Witnesses reported hearing a second shot. According to preliminary police information, it may have been fired by the deceased man. At the same time, law enforcement officers are still determining what exactly the object in his hands was and whether he actually fired.

The Estonian Police and Border Guard Board has launched criminal proceedings to establish the sequence of events that preceded the use of the service weapon. The legality of the police officer’s actions will also be reviewed by the agency’s Internal Control Bureau.