DW reports that the German police shot a German army soldier, after a civilian reported masked men with guns. The army thought responding police were part of a “Verteidigungsfall” (Vfall) exercise, and started shooting blanks.

According to German daily Bild, the military police fired practice ammunition at the arriving police officers, believing this was part of the military exercise.

The police officers then reportedly fired back with live ammunition, hitting one of the soldiers.

“Due to a misinterpretation at the scene, shots were fired,” the Bavarian police said in a statement.

“It later transpired that the person carrying a weapon was a member of the German armed forces, who was on site as part of an exercise,” the statement added.

Local reports explain how civilians were alarmed by the defense drill.

Around 6 p.m., residents along Hohenlindener Strasse reported masked individuals carrying weapons near barns and industrial buildings. They had no idea the Feldjäger — the Bundeswehr’s military police — were conducting a planned defence drill called “Marshal Power 2025.”

State police units were immediately dispatched by the local control centre. When they arrived at the scene, they reportedly believed they were confronting a real armed situation. At the same time, the Bundeswehr soldiers thought the newly arrived officers were participants in the same scenario. Within seconds, confusion escalated: the soldiers fired training ammunition, while the police responded with live rounds.

One of the main German government concerns about Vfall, from the beginning, was public protest.

Auch gibt es Befürchtungen einer öffentlichen Protestwelle…