Berlin shootings: special prosecutors secure 61 arrest warrants, 19 indictments

Berlin prosecutors' special investigative unit "Telum", set up to tackle a series of shootings in the city, has so far obtained 61 arrest warrants and filed 19 indictments, Justice Senator Felor Badenberg (CDU) told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. "The record of the Telum investigative group is impressive after just a short time," Badenberg said. The unit, created in February within the organised crime department, handles cases from the police task force "Ferrum", which has opened more than 650 investigations since last year.

There has also been a first conviction: the regional court sentenced a 34-year-old man to five years and six months in prison for attempted aggravated extortion. According to prosecutors, he demanded 200,000 euros from a businessman in January in the name of the "Daltons" gang and, after being refused, fired shots at the man's shop in Neukölln. The verdict is not yet final. Badenberg called it an important signal.

The violence has not stopped, however: on Friday afternoon two people were shot and wounded after a dispute in Schöneberg, with the shooters fleeing in several cars. Police said the injuries were not life-threatening and detectives are examining a possible link to clan crime.