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Draft:List of killings by law enforcement officers in Switzerland

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Listed below are people killed by non-military law enforcement officers in Switzerland, whether or not in the line of duty, irrespective of reason or method. Cases where individuals died in police custody due to applied techniques are also included. Inclusion in the list implies neither wrongdoing nor justification on the part of the person killed or the officer involved. The listing simply documents occurrences of deaths. https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=BTB19311111-01.2.9.3&srpos=6&e=------193-en-20--1--img-txIN-wurde+von+Polizisten+-------0----- https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=q&hs=1&r=1&results=1&txq=%22Polizisten%22+%22fahrl%C3%A4ssiger%22&dafdq=&dafmq=&dafyq=&datdq=&datmq=&datyq=&laq=&puq=&txf=txIN&ssnip=img&ccq=&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN-wurde+von+Polizisten+-------0----- https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=q&r=101&results=1&e=-------en-20--81--img-txIN-%22Polizisten%22+%22fahrl%C3%A4ssiger%22-------0-----

20th century

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Date Name Age Location Canton Description
1911-06-08 Hedwig Stutz 16 Basel Basel-Stadt As a policeman cleaned his revolver, he accidentally discharged it, shooting Stutz, the daughter of a local innkeeper, in the head as she delivered beer to the nearby police station. Stutz died instantly.[1] Officer Konrad von Felten was convicted of negligent homicide and given a three-month suspended sentence; he was also ordered to pay 3,405 francs to Stutz's parents.[2]
1913-01-09 Pfifter ? Baden Aargau An officer was accidentally shot and killed by another officer at the cantonal police headquarters.[3]
1913-07-09 Karl May 22 Engelburg St. Gallen Giger, an officer from Wittenbach, attempted to arrest May (also reported as Merz),[4] a German deserter who was suspected in multiple burglaries. May resisted and grabbed the officer's bayonet, which he used to cut Giger's cheek and chin. Giger shot and killed May in response.[5]
1915-02-05 N.N. ? Göschenen Uri As officer Albert Kunz provided food for a prisoner accused of stealing snowshoes, the inmate attacked him. Kunz fired two warning shots before attempting to incapacitate his assailant with a third shot. According to reports, the inmate moved as the third shot was fired, deflecting the bullet, which struck the inmate in the head, piercing his brain.[6]
1916-04-27 Heinrich Rutschmann 46 Zurich Zurich Officers went to an apartment to arrest Rutschmann, who was wanted for endangering public safety and shooting at people the previous day. As officers approached, the suspect opened fire. An officer shot Rutschmann in the abdomen; he died twenty minutes later.[7][8]
1919-10-12 N.N. ? Binningen Basel-Landschaft An escaping prisoner was shot and killed by a policeman.[9]
1924-03-06 Josef Bertran 19 Schaffhausen Schaffhausen Bertran and an accomplice were spotted by an officer vandalizing windows. As Bertran fled, the policeman warned him repeatedly; receiving no response, the officer fired a warning shot, then a second shot, which fatally struck the suspect. The accomplice was later arrested.[10]
1932-09-25 Giovanni Dacol 32 St. Gallen St. Gallen In the Winklen neighbourhood, officers responding to a burglary at a post office were shot at. A police canine took down the suspected burglar, Dacol, who fought officers as they attempted to subdue him. After he was subdued and tied down, officers discovered Dacol had died during the arrest, possibly from a heart attack in the struggle.[11]
1972-06-20 Vladimir Durković 34 Sion Valais Durković and two friends were accosted by police officer Bernard Carruzzo at a discotheque, with the officer espousing xenophobic sentiment towards the three Yugoslavians. Caruzzo brandished a gun, causing a scuffle between him and Durković that ended with Caruzzo shooting Durković in the torso, the bullet piercing the small intestine. Durković died two days later of his injuries in hospital. Carruzzo, who had a measured blood alcohol content level of 1.4, was sentenced to nine years in prison, serving seven years of that sentence.[12]
1985-08-05 N.N. ? Thun Bern As a highway police corporal reversed his vehicle at high speed in the emergency lane of traffic near the Allmend Tunnel, his vehicle accidentally swerved into the regular lane and struck a civilian vehicle. One person was killed and three other people were injured in the civilian vehicle. The highway officer, who admitted he often exceeded speed limits during reversals, was found guilty of manslaughter.[13]
1995-03-27 N.N. 24 Affoltern am Albis Zurich A Lebanese man imprisoned for drug offenses was shot and killed by police as he escaped prison with a 36-year-old accomplice.[14]
1995-12-20 Guido Casanova ? Lugano Ticino Two police officers were investigating a stolen vehicle when it drove off. An officer fired two shots at the tires, which missed and fatally struck Casanova, a bystander. The two officers were placed under investigation for negligent homicide.[15]
1999-03-03 Khaled Abuzarifa 27 Kloten Zurich Abuzarifa, a Palestinian migrant, was bound and gagged by police at Zurich Airport to prevent him from screaming during his deportation. A doctor told police that the procedure was safe, but Abuzarifa lost consciousness several minutes later and ultimately died by suffocation. The doctor was given a five month suspended sentence, while two police officers were acquitted. As a result of this killing, human rights organization Amnesty International successfully campaigned for the use of tape as a gag to be banned in Switzerland.[16][17]

21st century

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Date Name Age Location Canton Description
2001-05-01 Samson Chukwu 27 Sierre District Valais Chukwu, a Nigerian migrant, was detained by authorities at Crêtelongue Prison in preparation for deportation. At the prison, an officer rested his weight on Chukwu's back as Chukwu lied on his stomach, causing him to asphyxiate. Police said that Chukwu had been violent and that officers were forced to subdue him to calm him down.[16]
2001-07-03 Cemal Gömeç 42 Bern Bern Officers responded to a domestic dispute at an apartment and encountered Gömeç, a Turkish Kurd with a history of mental problems. During a four-hour standoff, police repeatedly fired rubber bullets, sprayed irritant sprays, and used a stun grenade against Gömeç, who was armed with a knife. He was arrested after officers subdued him by striking him with truncheons; he was then injected with a sedative by a doctor and lost consciousness. Gömeç died in hospital four days later.[18]
2016-11-06 Hervé Bondembe Mandundu 27 Bex Vaud Mandundu, a non-citizen born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was shot and killed by police. Police had responded to an apartment break-in and fired shots after Mandundu reportedly charged them with a kitchen knife. The officer who fired the shots was acquitted.[19]
2018-02-28 Mike Ben Peter 40 Lausanne Vaud While investigating drug dealers near Lausanne train station, officers encountered Nigerian Ben Peter, who was allegedly uncooperative. Six officers pinned Ben Peter to the ground, allegedly placing his hands behind his back, placing pressure on his knees, and kicking him in the genitals. Ben Peter collapsed at the scene and died of cardiac arrest in hospital. His killing was compared to the murder of George Floyd by Blick.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Revolvergeschichten". Tagblatt der Stadt Thun. 8 June 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Aus dem Gerichtssaal". Neue Zürcher Nachrichten. 5 July 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Unglückliches Manipulieren mit dem Revolver". Neue Zürcher Nachrichten. 10 January 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Ein deutscher Soldat von einem Schweizer Polizisten erschossen". Berner Tagwacht. 10 July 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  5. ^ "Deutscher Soldat von schweizerischem Landjäger erschossen". Der Bund (in German). 10 July 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  6. ^ "Uri". Oberländer Tagblatt. 8 February 1915. p. 2. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Erschossen". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 27 April 1916. p. 2. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Von der Polizei erschossen". Berner Tagwacht. 27 April 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  9. ^ "Unglücksfälle und Verbrechen". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 14 October 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Unglücksfälle und Verbrechen". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 7 March 1924. p. 2. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Kampf mit einem Einbrecher in Winkeln". Neue Zürcher Nachrichten (in German). 26 September 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  12. ^ de Haas, Denis (22 June 2022). "Bundesliga: Ex-Gladbach-Profi Vladimir Durkovic wird 1972 von Polizisten in Sion erschossen". Sport1 (in German). Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  13. ^ "Wann gelten Gesetze für Polizisten?". Der Bund (in German). 5 June 1987. p. 30. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Der Ausbruch in Affoltern a. A." Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 29 March 1995. p. 53. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  15. ^ "Polizisten erschossen Rentner". Thuner Tagblatt (in German). 22 December 1995. p. 24. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  16. ^ a b "Autopsy reveals Nigerian deportee died of suffocation". swissinfo.ch. 26 July 2001. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  17. ^ "Verdict expected in deportee death trial". swissinfo.ch. 2 July 2001. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  18. ^ "Herschkowitz war Arzt im Fall Cemal G." Tages‑Anzeiger (in German). 29 April 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Tödliche Polizeieinsätze in der Schweiz". watson (in German). Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Auch die Schweiz hat einen «George Floyd»-Fall". Blick (in Swiss High German). 4 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2025.

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