Germany: Hobby hunters shoot police officers
In the case of the two police officers shot dead in Germany, investigators believe the suspects wanted to cover up prior poaching.
Arrest warrants for murder were issued against the two suspects, aged 32 and 38, who are currently in pre-trial detention, as police and prosecutors announced at a press conference.
In the early hours of Monday morning, a 24-year-old police trainee and a 29-year-old senior police officer were shot dead during a traffic stop on a county road in Rhineland-Palatinate, near the district town of Kusel. According to sources from security circles, the officers had previously reported by radio that dead game had been found in a vehicle. Later, one of them made an emergency call with the words: They are shooting. In the afternoon, police arrested both men in Saarland.
The suspects
The two hobby hunters are believed to have been caught poaching during the police check. Exactly how the officers came to notice the two men remains unclear. The loading area of their van reportedly contained numerous killed wild animals, said senior prosecutor Stefan Orthen.
According to the prosecutor's office, the 32-year-old suspect admitted to the poaching. He also described the police check. "However, he denied having fired the shots himself", said Orthen. The 38-year-old is exercising his right to remain silent.
According to the prosecutor's office, neither of the two suspects had a prior criminal record with final convictions. However, the 38-year-old had previously come to the attention of police for poaching and hit-and-run offences, said Criminal Director Frank Gautsche. The 32-year-old was known to police for fraud offences.
The IG Wild beim Wild has been calling for years for a medical-psychological assessment for hobby hunters — modeled on the Dutch system — as well as an upper age limit.
According to the current state of investigations, however, detectives assume that both suspects fired shots. A shotgun and a hunting rifle were seized during the investigation. There is currently no indication of a politically motivated act or any connections between the suspects and the so-called “Reichsbürger” scene.
The police do in fact believe that the two alleged perpetrators wanted to cover up their commercial poaching for A. Schmitt Wildhandel. «It is an inconceivable act», said Chief Prosecutor Stefan Orthen at the press conference.
The victims
The 24-year-old police officer was killed by a shot to the head. The 29-year-old senior constable was, according to investigators, hit by four shots, one of them to the head. He himself had fired 14 times, but based on current findings, neither of the two suspects was hit. The 24-year-old trainee officer, who was nearly finished with her training, had been unsuspecting — she may have been holding a flashlight and documents in her hand and had not fired her weapon.
According to investigators, the slain trainee officer was close to completing her training. She had completed all training and exercise units. The unmarked vehicle in which she and her colleague had been travelling is not normally used for traffic checks.
Andreas S. had previously been on the authorities’ radar for alleged poaching and an attempted act of violence. According to SPIEGEL sources, an incident occurred in September 2017 in a wooded area near Spiesen-Elversberg in the Saarland. A witness reportedly observed Andreas S. prowling in a hunting ground that was not his own and apparently shooting a roe deer.
Extensive investigations by the Saarland police did not, however, lead to the suspect’s conviction. According to SPIEGEL sources, Andreas S. produced several friends from the hunting scene who provided him with an irrefutable alibi for the relevant period. The proceedings were dropped in 2019.
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