lawsuitThe 26-year-old officer who shot a 51-year-old Dutchman in Luxembourg in April 2018 has ended his career with the police. This came to the fore in the lawsuit that started yesterday in Luxembourg. The young officer is suspected of involuntary manslaughter by the Public Prosecution Service. He himself invokes emergency.
In April 2018, Dutchman Richard Coolegem, who lives in Germany, drove through Bonnevoie-Sud, a district of Luxembourg. The police were there at that time a major traffic control. The officers noticed that the Dutchman’s Mercedes was damaged and that he was driving with the wrong number plates. According to witnesses, he also drove zigzagging through the narrow streets, lost control several times and was under the influence of alcohol.
The driver tried to avoid traffic control and made an unexpected manoeuvre. One of the officers had the feeling that the Dutchman was heading towards him and fired three shots. The driver was hit in the chest and shoulder. He drove on with serious injuries and came to a stop after colliding with a tree. He died on the spot from his injuries. It later turned out that he did not have a valid driver’s license and that he was known to the police for various traffic violations.
Emergency weather?
The officer who fired the shots told his employer that he felt threatened after the Dutchman ignored a stop sign. He would have acted out of emergency, reports the Luxembourg news site Wort. Experts question this story. In one of the reports drawn up, they concluded that the agent was not at all in danger of life and that the use of a firearm was therefore unlawful.
Eleven months after the incident, it was decided to prosecute the officer. In the course of the coming weeks, the judge must determine whether he is indeed guilty. The officer faces a hefty prison sentence. In Luxembourg it almost never happens that a person is shot dead by the police. The case against the 26-year-old agent is therefore unique in its kind.
disturbing image
The Luxembourg magazine Letzebuerg Privat spoke at the time with people from the area of the deceased Coolegem (51), who paint a disturbing picture of his life. His wife wanted to leave him, he faced a prison sentence and he might also lose his job. “Even before the accident, he had lost everything,” the magazine writes.
The man was also banned from driving. “Maybe this was an act of desperation because of his problems,” said one of the staff at Letzebuerg Privat. But there will never be an answer to that question.
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