Morges fatal shooting: police officer acted in self-defence, prosecutors conclude

The fatal shooting occurred on a platform at Morges train station, canton Vaud, on August 30, 2021. Keystone-SDA

The police officer who shot dead a black man at Morges train station in western Switzerland in 2021 acted in self-defence, the Office of the Attorney General of canton Vaud has concluded.

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The officer who fired the shot and his three police colleagues cannot be accused of failing to provide assistance.

These are the conclusions of a three-year investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General of canton Vaud into the homicide. Criminal proceedings have thus ended and there will be no charges against the police officers, it announced on Tuesday.

During the incident at Morges station on August 30, 2021, a police officer fired three shots at a man armed with a knife because he felt threatened by him, the investigation found. An autopsy revealed that one of the shots caused massive bleeding, which resulted in the death of the 37-year-old man who originated from South Africa.

Based on the circumstances, the public prosecutor’s office believes that the police officer faced a serious attack and “had neither the time nor other means to fend off this knife attack in any other way than by using his firearm”.

The man’s family plan to appeal against the decision.

Adapted from German by DeepL/sb

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