Africans in Germany. Killing of Gambian in Germany. Migration activists in The Gambia have expressed shock and dismay over the fatal shooting of Lamin Touray, a Gambian migrant living in downtown Nienburg, Hannover Administrative area, Germany, on March 30, 2024. They are calling for thorough investigations to uncover the circumstances surrounding his death.
According to activists who spoke to AfroNews.Germany, the deceased met his untimely death following a dispute with his girlfriend, who reported to the German Police that he had threatened her with a knife. They noted that instead of handling the situation professionally by disarming him, the German Police resorted to shooting Mr. Touray multiple times, resulting in his death.
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Details revealed by Bild newspaper depict a troubling sequence of events leading to the altercation. Allegedly, the situation escalated around 9:55 a.m. in an apartment building on Friedrichstrasse in downtown Nienburg. The individual, reportedly armed with a knife and threatening his girlfriend, caused her to flee desperately from the ground floor apartment. Despite the arrival of multiple patrol cars, attempts to de-escalate the situation failed as the individual remained unyielding.
Morro Yaffa, a Gambian Migrant Rights Activist based in Berlin, explained that the deceased was involved in a scuffle with his girlfriend, who subsequently reported him to the Police for threatening her with a knife. Yaffa added that when the German Police arrived at the scene to disarm the forty-six-year-old Gambian migrant, they ended up shooting him with eight rounds of bullets, resulting in his untimely death.
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“It’s very unfortunate and shocking to learn of the untimely death of our brother Lamin Touray, who was shot eight times by German Police. The information we gathered so far is that Lamin had issues with his girlfriend, who reported him to the Police and alleged that he threatened her with a knife. When police officers arrived at the scene, instead of acting professionally to disarm him, they shot him to death,” Yaffa lamented.
He added: “This is typical behavior of the German Police towards migrants; especially Blacks living in Germany because anytime migrants had issues, instead of Police acting professionally, they resort to using violence. We strongly condemn this fatal and gruesome killing of our brother and demand a full investigation of the circumstances leading to his untimely death.”
According to him, the deceased was already in the process of divorcing his wife and had been unemployed for a while. He added that the deceased was also struggling with mental health issues, which may have contributed to the altercation with his girlfriend.
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Ebrima Drammeh, a migrant rights activist based in Malta, stated that the untimely death of Lamin Touray has deeply shocked the entire Gambian community in Germany and beyond. This is especially concerning considering that the victim was the primary provider for his family and had been living and working peacefully in Germany for several years.
According to him, the Gambian refugee community in Germany is making every effort to uncover the truth behind the death of the deceased. He added that the community has organized a meeting scheduled for today to discuss potential actions in response to the fatal shooting by the German Police.
“We call on The Gambian Government to take the matter into their hands and launch an investigation into this matter and action against any police officer involved in this callous shooting. We condemned the shooting in the strongest terms and equally called on the German Police to take action against their officers as this is not the first time German Police are subjecting Gambian citizens to such inhumane acts,” Drammeh said.
Meanwhile, the Government of The Gambia, through the Ministry of Information, stated that it has received reports of the shooting of a Gambian residing in Germany by the German police with deep concern.
“The government informs the public that Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident and will provide full details in due course”