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Acquittal after shooting in Zingst: defendant gets away scot-free!
The Stralsund regional court acquitted a 24-year-old of manslaughter charges in the Zingst case; Contradictions among witnesses.
Acquittal after shooting in Zingst: defendant gets away scot-free!
A trial that caused a lot of excitement in the region ended at the Stralsund regional court. A 24-year-old was acquitted of attempted murder charges. The incident, which occurred in Zingst on the night of August 9, 2024, led to a dramatic police operation. The defendant, accused of shooting at two men from a car, could not be convicted. The court could not clearly determine that he was actually the shooter. Witnesses gave contradictory testimony during the trial, meaning there was insufficient evidence to justify a conviction. The public prosecutor's office had called for the defendant to be convicted of attempted murder, but in the closing argument both the prosecution and the defense argued for an acquittal. As NDR reports, the two witnesses who identified the defendant as the shooter also denied his guilt.
A 25-year-old was seriously injured in the incident and suffered a life-threatening injury to his lower abdomen, while a 24-year-old was shot in the arm. This gave the trial serious weight, as the circumstances of the crime caused high emotional waves. In addition to the injuries, the circumstances of the defendant's arrest were also explosive: he was caught in Stralsund about two weeks after the crime. The crime was the subject of lively public debate, especially since the defendant fled after the incident. The court refused compensation for pre-trial detention because this escape was considered culpable.
Evidence and further hearing dates
Despite the acquittal, the matter remains not entirely resolved. The defendant was temporarily arrested while in custody and was released four months later. At the end of December 2024, the court decided that he could be released under certain conditions. The trial was scheduled with eight further hearing dates in order to examine all aspects of the case in detail, also reports Nordkurier.
The fundamentals of crime development in Germany show that even such serious offenses must be viewed in the context of a declining trend. The police crime statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office show a decrease of 1.7% to around 5.84 million registered crimes in 2024, including a decrease in rapes and robberies. But according to a Statista study, citizens' sense of security in Germany remains impaired, especially by crimes that cannot always be identified as the perpetrators.
Overall, this case represents a worrying point in the regional crime history and may influence the security awareness of citizens in Zingst and beyond. While the investigation continues, it remains to be seen how the verdict will be weighed legally and what conclusions other processes could draw from it.