Again, a hobby hunter in terminal decline shoots a person

In a small village in Middle Franconia, it has become tragically clear how a never-resolved neighbour dispute can ultimately escalate. Two men are dead.

They quarrelled for years, and in the end both are dead: a neighbourhood dispute between two men from the village of Weiltingen, population 1,400, in the Middle Franconian district of Ansbach, simmering since at least 2019, forms the backdrop to a horrifying act of bloodshed. A 55-year-old hobby hunter shot his neighbour, who was standing in front of his property, eleven times with a pistol from inside a car.

The 33-year-old died at the scene. The shots had apparently struck him at close range. The wildlife killer fled and, according to police assessment, shot himself a few kilometres away in his car. A farewell letter was reported to have been found.

The two men had been levelling mutual accusations at each other since at least 2019, a police spokesman said on Wednesday. Police had been called to Weiltingen more than 30 times as a result. The later perpetrator had filed complaints more frequently than the victim.

The complaints had mostly concerned comparatively minor matters, such as noise disturbance or violations of the Infection Protection Act, the police spokesman said. In one instance, the disputes had led to a traffic accident in which coercion on the road was also alleged to have played a role.

The gunman had apparently possessed the weapon used in the attack legally. The Ansbach district office stated on Wednesday, in response to an enquiry, that the man had been a hobby hunter and had held a hunting licence for more than 20 years. «As a hunter, he most recently legally acquired and possessed one short firearm and two long firearms, which were registered on a weapons ownership card«, a spokesperson for the district administrative authority stated.

Indications had been known that had in the past led to a review of the man's reliability under hunting and firearms law, it was further stated. «However, these were not sufficient to deny reliability under hunting and firearms law and to justify a revocation of the hunting and firearms law permits«, the district office further announced.

In the course of the investigations into Monday's incident, several people had come forward who said they had felt threatened by the man, a police spokesperson said. There had also been statements that he had shot at a person with a bow and arrow in the past. This incident, however, just like the possible threats, had never been reported and had never been the subject of a police investigation.

More on this in the dossier: Psychology of Hunting