Once again a recreational hunter fires indiscriminately
Yet again, a recreational hunter in Germany has fired shots without restraint, putting residents and passers-by at risk.
Following the discovery of three bodies on neighbouring properties in the Lower Saxon municipality of Bienenbüttel, investigators are searching for the background to the incident.
According to initial findings, officers believe that a neighbourhood dispute between an 85-year-old property owner and the 62-year-old owner of the adjacent property escalated on Friday lunchtime. German media report that, in all likelihood, the recreational hunter in his final act shot the 62-year-old man and his 61-year-old wife.
«We assume that the man subsequently took his own life inside the residential building using one of his legally owned firearms», said chief police inspector Kai Richter. The public prosecutor's office has been informed of all findings. There is a history of disputes between the individuals involved, though these had not previously escalated.
Police forensic work at the scene was completed overnight; the bodies are now being examined by forensic pathologists. The results of the post-mortems are not expected until next week at the earliest. The exact circumstances of events in the residential area of Bargdorf, a district of Bienenbüttel in the Uelzen district, remain unclear. The suspect is a German national who held a hunting licence and is said to have owned several firearms. For this reason, police stated that they proceeded with a high degree of caution during the operation in the Lüneburg Heath.
Police special forces from Hamburg arrived in an armoured vehicle, along with a special operations unit from Hanover. Forensic pathologists came from Hamburg, and forensic technicians in white overalls were also deployed. The experts were tasked with reconstructing the sequence of events across the extensive properties, the police spokesman said. All three victims had suffered gunshot wounds. Neighbouring residents were initially assigned emergency accommodation. A pastor provided them with pastoral care.
According to IG Wild beim Wild, medical-psychological assessments for recreational hunters are needed — modeled on the Dutch system — as well as an upper age limit. The largest age group among recreational hunters is 65+, those with age-related, cognitive, visual, concentration, and reaction impairments, as well as training and practice deficits. The alarming reports of hunting accidents and fatal crimes involving hunters' weapons make it clear: it is high time to abolish recreational hunting! Deadly firearms must not be placed in the hands of recreational hunters, who are able to use them in a completely uncontrolled manner!
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland we document cases, legal questions and recurring patterns. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
