måndag 28 oktober 2024

JUST NOW: Several shot dead - hunters on the run

Austria
Several shot in Austria - "very dangerous" shooter on the loose

Knut Sahlin Ekberg

Updated 12.35 | Published 11.47

Poliser på plats i Österrike.
Police officers on site in Austria. Photo: Laumat/Matthias Lauber

Several people have been shot in a small town in northern Austria.

At least two people have died and one of them is the town's mayor.

The suspected shooter is believed to be a hunter and is still at large - he is considered "very dangerous".

At 8.30 local time, the police were alerted in the town of Altenfelden in northern Austria. A body had been found in a meadow. The dead person was the town's mayor, Franz Hofe, the Austrian Kronen Zeitung reports.

After that, it is suspected that the perpetrator shot at least one other person. According to information to the newspaper, a third person has also been shot.

The shooter is suspected to be a hunter. He is considered to be dangerous and right now a large-scale hunt is underway for him in the area around the town of Kirchberg ob der Donau. The town, located in the district of Rohrbach, is not far from the border with Germany.

The dead mayor has hunted a lot and is a hunt leader himself. Kronen Zeitung reports that a suspected motive behind the act may be a long-standing conflict. But the circumstances surrounding the incident are still unclear.

The municipality's deputy mayor, Stefan Reisinger, is shocked by what happened.

- I can't believe it, he says.

The residents of the affected town of Altenfelden have barricaded themselves in their homes, the newspaper writes.

The mayor reported to have been shot dead, Franz Hofer, represented the conservative and ruling Austrian People's Party (ÖVP).

Franz Hofer
         

         
          Photo: Laumat/Matthias Lauber

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