Police operation Police officer allegedly acted in self-defense in Morges VD shooting

The police officer who fired a fatal shot at a black man at Morges VD station in 2021 is said to have acted in self-defense. Neither this officer nor his three colleagues can be accused of failing to render assistance.

These are the conclusions of the investigation into the homicide carried out by the Vaud public prosecutor's office. It intends to discontinue the criminal proceedings and not bring any charges against the police officers, as it announced on Tuesday.

During the operation at Morges station, a police officer fired three shots at a man armed with a knife because he felt threatened by him. An autopsy revealed that one of the shots caused massive bleeding, which was fatal.

Based on the circumstances, the public prosecutor is of the opinion that the police officer was confronted with a serious attack and "did not have the time or other means to fend off this knife attack in any other way than by using his firearm".

SDA