Soldier Accidentally Shot by Police During Bundeswehr Exercise in Bavaria

A soldier was accidentally shot by police during a Bundeswehr military exercise in Erding, Bavaria, after a misunderstanding between troops and responding officers. The soldier sustained minor injuries and has been discharged from the hospital. The exercise, called Marshal Power, involved hundreds of military police and emergency responders simulating a NATO attack. Authorities are investigating the incident to determine how the miscommunication occurred.

A soldier sustained injuries after being accidentally shot by police during a large-scale military exercise conducted by the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, in Erding, a city located in the southern Bavarian region. Officials confirmed the incident on Wednesday, describing it as the result of a misunderstanding between troops participating in the exercise and police officers who had been called to the area by concerned local residents.

A spokesperson for the Bundeswehr’s Operational Command explained to German media outlets that the incident occurred when military personnel carrying out the exercise were mistaken for a potential threat. The soldier, who suffered minor injuries, was promptly taken to a hospital for treatment and has since been discharged. Both the Bundeswehr and local police emphasized that his injuries were not life-threatening.

The incident took place during an exercise named Marshal Power, a comprehensive operation involving around 500 military police personnel alongside hundreds of first responders from various emergency services, including police, fire departments, and rescue units. These drills are designed to simulate coordinated responses to a potential attack on a NATO member state and are being carried out across public areas in approximately a dozen towns and cities north of Munich, including Erding.

On the evening of the incident, Bavarian police reported that they were responding to multiple emergency calls about a man reportedly carrying a weapon. In response, they deployed several units to the southeast of Erding, including a helicopter, to assess and contain the situation.

According to the German daily newspaper Bild, members of the military police involved in the exercise fired practice ammunition toward the arriving police officers, mistakenly believing that these officers were also part of the training scenario. In response, the police officers fired live rounds, which struck one of the soldiers.

Bavarian police later issued a statement acknowledging that shots had been fired due to a misinterpretation of the events at the scene. They clarified that it was subsequently confirmed that the individual carrying a weapon was in fact a Bundeswehr soldier participating in the exercise.

The statement further noted that the state criminal police, in coordination with local law enforcement, have launched a full investigation into the incident to determine exactly how the misunderstanding occurred and to prevent similar incidents during future exercises.

This event highlights the complexities and risks involved in conducting large-scale military exercises in public spaces, particularly when multiple agencies and live public responses intersect with simulated training scenarios.