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Crime scene near Kusel at the end of January 2022: police officers shot with a hunting rifle and shotgun
Photo: THILO SCHMUELGEN / REUTERS
According to SPIEGEL information, the two weapons with which Andreas S. is said to have shot two police officers at the end of January officially belonged to his wife.
According to the public prosecutor's office, S. shot a 24-year-old police candidate near Kusel at the end of January with a shot from a double-barreled shotgun.
He is said to have then fired on her 29-year-old colleague.
After that, S. is said to have shot the policeman three more times with a hunting rifle.
He killed him with a shot in the head.
According to SPIEGEL information, weapons of the same type and caliber – a double-barreled shotgun and a Bergara hunting rifle in caliber .308 Winchester – had been entered on the gun ownership card of Andreas S.’s wife, Sarah S., since mid-2021.
She was also a hunter.
At the time of the crime, Andreas S. was not allowed to own any weapons and was also not allowed to hunt.
The exact relationship status of the couple is unclear, the investigators initially assumed that the two are separated, they probably did not live together.
When asked by SPIEGEL, the public prosecutor's office did not comment on whether the suspected murder weapons were registered on S. Frau and whether they were investigating S. Frau.
So far it has been said that the weapons were "registered on the gun ownership card of another, authorized person".
A possible criminal liability of this person under the Weapons Act is the subject of the investigation.
According to the investigators' findings so far, Andreas S. and an accomplice, Florian V., were accidentally caught poaching by a police patrol at the end of January.
The public prosecutor assumes that S. killed the two police officers.
S. and V. are in custody, S. is silent on the allegations.
Florian V. was initially also suspected of having shot, but the public prosecutor's office now assumes that only S. shot.
The investigators found Andreas S.'s identity card at the crime scene and arrested him and V. on the same day.
At the place of arrest, they also secured the two weapons, which the investigators now assume are the murder weapons.
Under Sarah S.'s registration address, they then discovered an entire arsenal of weapons, including eleven rifles, five handguns, extensive ammunition and several silencers.
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