Dispute escalates: 13-year-old shoots at opponent in Frankfurt-Bonames

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It could have been an ordinary Sunday evening in the Frankfurt district of Bonames – instead, a dispute on Friedrichsdorfer Straße on 18 October around 7 p.m. ended with a blank-firing gun. As the Frankfurter Rundschau reports, citing Frankfurt police, current findings indicate it was the 13-year-old boy who drew the weapon and fired from close range in the direction of an injured party.

Four people, a heated dispute, a shot fired at close range

Police describe the sequence of events as follows: A heated dispute between four people was underway on Friedrichsdorfer Straße on Sunday evening. In the course of this altercation, the 13-year-old drew a blank-firing gun and fired it at least once in the direction of one of those involved – at close range. A scuffle then broke out among those present.

Until the arrival of the emergency services, the shooter was held in custody. Police were apparently on site quickly enough to prevent further escalation at the scene.

Mutual complaints filed, much remains unclear

The officers on scene took down mutual complaints. That means: not only the 13-year-old, but also the other parties involved must expect investigations – allegations are being examined in both directions. Why the dispute on Friedrichsdorfer Straße broke out in the first place on Sunday evening remains the subject of ongoing investigations, according to Frankfurt police. The current statement also contains no information on how a 13-year-old obtained a blank-firing gun, or whether there were any injuries.

What this means for you: As long as police do not release new details, the picture remains above all one of an incident in which a child reached for a weapon during a dispute – at close range, in the middle of a Frankfurt district, on a Sunday evening at 7 p.m.

What the law says about blank-firing guns

The Frankfurter Rundschau points in its report to an issue that goes beyond the specific case: carrying a blank-firing gun in Germany is only permitted with a firearms permit. A 13-year-old does not meet this requirement. How police assess this circumstance in the specific case is part of the ongoing investigation. The newspaper also writes that police are deployed over blank-firing gun use in disputes not only in Frankfurt – under this reading, the Bonames incident does not stand alone.

Three questions that remain open

What exactly triggered the dispute among the four people? Where did the blank-firing gun come from? And what consequences does the incident have for the 13-year-old – criminally, but also with regard to how he was able to obtain the weapon in the first place? Answers to all of this are outstanding as of the time of reporting.

Source: Frankfurter Rundschau