Prosecutor finds Helsinki police shooting was not a crime

Prosecutors will not open a preliminary investigation into a Helsinki police officer’s shooting of a man who threatened officers with a knife, Yle reports. They found no reason to suspect that the officer’s use of a firearm constituted a crime.

The shooting happened on September 27 at Hämeentie 42 in Helsinki’s Kallio district. Police had been sent there after an emergency call reported a man with a crossbow in a stairwell.

Officers saw the man emerge from the stairwell carrying a knife. They backed away and ordered him to drop it, warning that they could use a firearm. The man ignored the orders and approached them while threatening them with the knife.

An officer fired one shot from a patrol rifle, hitting the man in the thigh. Prosecutors said the officers faced immediate danger because the man continued to approach despite their retreat.

They concluded that the officer used the firearm to defend himself and another officer from an unlawful attack and to stop the man’s dangerous behaviour. The use of force was proportionate to the danger, prosecutors said.