Police murders in Kusel: traces of gunshot should identify gunmen

Created: 2022-02-06 06:17

By: Martina Lippl

Kusel: After two young police officers were fatally shot, the investigations are in full swing.

© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

After the deadly shots at two young police officers, two suspects have been arrested.

Who fired the gun?

There are still many unanswered questions about the motive.

The news ticker.

• After the murder of the two police officers* in Kusel (Rhineland-Palatinate), the investigations are in full swing.

• Was covering up poaching a motive for the deaths of two police officers?

• Two suspects are in custody.

  First of all, it is still unclear who fired the shots.

Kusel/Saarbrücken – The death of the two young police officers is shocking.

A 24-year-old police officer and a 29-year-old police officer were fatally shot early Monday morning (January 31) in the Kusel district.

At a traffic stop at around 4:20 a.m.

They radioed that they had found dead game in the vehicle they checked.

According to the police, it was heard over the radio that they were being shot at.

The act caused great horror in Germany.

Two suspects were arrested the same day.

A 38-year-old and a 32-year-old from Saarland have been in custody since then.

Arrest warrants for joint murder were issued for the two suspects on Tuesday.

According to the investigators, they wanted to cover up a previous poaching.

Was covering up poaching a motive for the deaths of two police officers?

Deadly shots at police officers: 32-year-old suspect denies suspicion

However, one of the suspects claims not to have been involved in the killing of the police officers.

The 32-year-old suspect denies having shot himself* and blamed the 38-year-old suspect.

The 32-year-old's lawyer also insists that he did not shoot.

"He stated that he was at the scene of the crime at the time of the crime, but also stated that he was in no way involved in the murder of the two police officers," confirmed the defense attorney on Tuesday (February 1) to the Southwest German Broadcasting (SWR).

He rejected the investigators' assumptions that both suspects should have shot.

The defense attorney made this clear again in an RTL interview.

"My client is wrongly in custody," says Christian Kessler, the 32-year-old's defense attorney, on RTL.

"He stated that he was present at the scene of the crime, but was in no way involved in the crime." His client helped to collect the game, but did not fire any shots at the police officers.

He claims to have performed menial tasks - to have been an assistant.

Traces of smoke: Tiny particles could convict suspects

"My client has stated that he has never fired a live firearm in his life," the lawyer said.

A test for traces of smoke should now provide information about this.

According to the private broadcaster, no results were initially available.

The investigating authorities assume that both suspects shot.

Two weapons - a shotgun and a hunting rifle - were used, said chief prosecutor Stefan Orthen at a press conference in Kaiserslautern on Tuesday (February 1).

Double murder of police officers: can tiny particles convict the gunman?

Tiny particles produced when a weapon is fired can remain on skin and clothing.

They allow conclusions as to who fired a weapon.

The so-called traces of smoke could convict a suspect.

The concentration can be different.

While the 32-year-old is more likely to be cooperative with the police, the 38-year-old has so far been silent about the act.

Many questions are still open.

Little by little, however, more and more is known about the past of the two men.

There were 22 dead fallow deer in the van that the police wanted to check.

The 38-year-old has already been targeted by the police in the past, also for poaching.

The German has neither a gun license nor a hunting license.