Man shot by police in Pärnu was holding a converted firearm, examination finds
A forensic examination found that the 54-year-old man shot by a police officer in Pärnu, Estonia, held a starter pistol converted to fire bullets. Police say he also fired the weapon, and an internal review is under way.
A forensic examination has confirmed that a 54-year-old man shot dead by a patrol officer on 23 September in Pärnu, a city in south-western Estonia, was holding a converted firearm. It was a starter pistol modified so that it could fire bullets. The finding matters because it bears on whether the officer's use of force was justified, a question an internal review is still examining.
What happened
On 23 September police received a call about Sadama Street in Pärnu, reporting that a man was showing a weapon to a group of children. When officers arrived, the man ignored their orders and pointed the weapon at one of them, the Lääne Prefecture (the regional unit of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board) said. To remove the threat, the officer used his service weapon. The man was fatally wounded and died at the scene.
Body camera footage shows that the man also fired his weapon. No one was hurt. It also emerged that he was intoxicated.
Police assessment
Üllar Kütt, head of the Pärnu police station, said the situation was extremely dangerous because the safety of both officers and other people was at risk. Based on the footage and information gathered so far, the prefecture considers the use of the service weapon necessary and justified, and says it currently has no complaints about the officers' actions.
Police explained that a weapon's appearance cannot show whether it is a real firearm or only a lookalike, so officers must always assume it could be real. When someone aims a weapon at an officer, the decision must be made very quickly.
The Internal Control Bureau of the Police and Border Guard Board is conducting a service review. It will analyse the officers' actions, the response, the decisions taken and the security tactics used. Kütt said every use of a firearm against a person is an exceptional event that is carefully analysed so lessons can be applied in officer training.
Police also reminded the public that modifying weapons without authorisation is prohibited and extremely dangerous, and that lawful firearm ownership requires a permit.
