crime
Dead in Rotenburg: Victims from the perpetrator’s environment
Flowers and candles stand in front of a house in Westervesede in the municipality of Scheeßel where a man is said to have shot. photo
© Focke Strangmann/dpa
Several shots were fired in two communities in Lower Saxony on Friday night. Four people die, including a child. A few days later there are new findings.
The victims of the shooting in the district Rotenburg (Wümme) come from the suspect’s environment. The soldier is said to have killed the new boyfriend of his estranged wife and his mother in Scheeßel, Lower Saxony, investigators confirmed.
He is then said to have shot a friend of his ex-partner and her three-year-old child in Bothel, a few kilometers away, on Friday night.
Could the crime have been prevented?
A few days after the fatal shooting, the question arises as to whether the violent act could have been prevented. Shortly before, the estranged wife and her new boyfriend – one of the victims – had sought help and reported the suspect for threats. “The two were with us recently,” admitted police spokesman Heiner van der Werp on Sunday. The reason was a dispute about the new relationship.
According to the investigators, a so-called threat speech took place on the same day. Police officers explained the situation to the 32-year-old and described possible consequences. “So it’s a de-escalating measure,” explained the police spokesman at the weekend. He doesn’t know the exact content of the conversation. “There were no further indications of an imminent escalation of the conflict,” it said on Monday.
The public prosecutor’s office announced that it would conduct its own investigation into whether the suspect had actually threatened the couple before the crime. In addition, an independent body should review the events and the actions of the police.
Weapons not from Bundeswehr stocks
After the shots, the German is said to have surrendered at the Von Düring barracks in the city of Rotenburg (Wümme). Rotenburg (Wümme) is close to the suspected crime scenes. The soldier drove to the barracks, got out of his car and identified himself. Police arrested the man. According to investigators, the suspect is not a member of the barracks.
The suspect was armed with an assault rifle and a pistol. “The weapons do not come from the Bundeswehr’s stocks,” the investigators said on Monday. They were properly registered on the soldier’s weapons ownership card. “A detailed investigation into the possible murder weapons is still pending.” There was a Molotov cocktail in the driver’s door of his car and ammunition in the trunk next to a Bundeswehr backpack. What the man intended to do with it initially remained unclear.
“The Bundeswehr is supporting the public prosecutor’s investigation,” a Bundeswehr spokeswoman said on Monday, but did not comment on the weapons or the deployment of the suspected soldier. For data protection reasons, she could not provide any further information.
Homicide squad is supposed to solve the crime
A murder commission is now tasked with clarifying the background to the crime. Up to 50 officers are taking part in the investigation. Among other things, they should find out what drove the suspect. “A motive in the family environment cannot be ruled out,” it was recently said. It also remained unclear whether the 32-year-old commented on the shooting.