On June 2, 1967, the shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, exited a performance of The Magic Flute at the Berlin Opera House to a throng of rock-throwing protesters, already into their second hour of battle with police.

As the situation escalated, Karl-Heinz Kurras, a detective sergeant in the West Berlin police force, approached an unarmed student he misidentified as a ringleader of the protest. After tussling with the suspect, Kurras unholstered his Walther PPK service pistol and squeezed the trigger. A single bullet smashed into the temple of 26-year-old student Benno Ohnesorg. He died 20 minutes later.