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Mourning at the crime scene (picture from February 4th): "Come quickly, they'll shoot"
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
In the interior committee of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament, the police inspector, Jürgen Schmitt, announced details of the operation near Kusel, during which two police officers were shot.
Among other things, he reported why it took twelve minutes for other patrols to arrive at the scene of the crime, even though the officers who were later killed were traveling with the crews of two other vehicles.
Schmitt said that if patrols are sent to a crime scene and it is known that there has been shooting, they are instructed to first stop and put on protective gear.
These included heavy hard hats and vests and a submachine gun.
"This leads to a certain time delay," says the inspector.
Investigators find 19 weapons on suspects
The two police officers killed in the early morning of January 31 checked a vehicle at 4:20 a.m. on a district road near Kusel.
They called for reinforcements and finally called for help with the words "Come quickly, they're shooting, they're shooting".
Two suspects were arrested on the same day, a 38-year-old and a 32-year-old from Saarland.
The investigators assume that Andreas S. and Florian V. committed the crime together to cover up their hunting poaching.
Numerous dead wild animals were discovered in the car, with which the two were probably traveling.
According to Inspector Schmitt, other patrols were at the crime scene at 4:32 a.m. the morning after the deadly check.
Both victims, a 29-year-old chief inspector and his 24-year-old colleague, were already dead at the time and had severe head injuries.
The two officers were uniformed in a civilian police car, according to Schmitt, they observed a person with the crews of two other police cars.
According to earlier information from the police, the aim was to solve a series of property crimes.
The SPD MP Michael Hüttner said in the committee that twelve minutes could be infinitely long in such situations.
This shows how important it is to have enough police forces who can back up if necessary.
The country is on the right track thanks to the increase in the police force.
Interior Secretary Nicole Steingass (SPD) said that prospective police officers would be "fully prepared" for their service in Rhineland-Palatinate during their three-year training.
A danger to life and limb can never be completely ruled out.
Investigators have now confiscated a total of 19 weapons from the two suspects.
A shotgun and a hunting rifle were found in a property in Sulzbach, Saarland, according to the Kaiserslautern public prosecutor.
Investigators discovered 17 other weapons in Andreas S.'s house.
According to investigators, he had neither a hunting license nor a gun permit.
It is currently being determined who owns the weapons.
There are currently no other suspects for the allegations of joint murder in two cases and poaching.
The results of the blood tests are still pending.
By the end of 2020 stalking districts in the Saar forest
However, Andreas S. hunted legally in the Saarland state forest until the end of March 2020.
The Ministry of the Environment in Saarbrücken announced that he had had hunting permits in various areas since 2017, initially for three hunting districts.
Two stalking districts were terminated early in June 2019 due to repeated violations of the Kirr order.
Instead of grain and local fruit, game was attracted ("kirked") with baked goods.
After another similar finding, the 38-year-old was terminated from the third hunting district on March 31, 2020, a spokeswoman said.
The highest hunting authority is docked with the ministry.
The stalking districts were in the Furpach and St. Ingbert Nord forest districts.
Because of the suspicion of hunting poaching, also in the Ingbert Nord district, the Saar forest has repeatedly reported against unknown persons.
The suspect had an approved game processing company in Neunkirchen until 2019 - this company was also checked several times by the State Office for Consumer Protection.
In addition to self-killed game, mainly purchased game was processed there.
Between 2017 and 2019, the suspect acquired a total of 442 roe deer and wild boar from the SaarForst Landesbetrieb.
In Sulzbach, the man apparently used a registered game room from another hunter until the end, it said.
Apr/dpa/AFP