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Press conference on Kusel
Suspects probably wanted to cover up poaching – both victims suffered headshots
A day after a policewoman and a policeman were shot near Kusel, the investigators give details of the crime and the suspect. The exact sequence of events has not yet been reconstructed, but there are many indications.
This article is continuously updated.
One day after the killing of two police officers in Rhineland-Palatinate, the police announced a press conference for Tuesday afternoon. The Kaiserslautern public prosecutor’s office, the Saarland state police headquarters and the West Palatinate police have been talking about the investigation since 2 p.m. Present speakers are the senior public prosecutors Dr. Udo Gehring, Stefan Orthen and Michael Denne, Heiner Schmolzi and Frank Gautsche from the West Palatinate Police Headquarters. Press spokeswoman Melanie Morbach from the state police headquarters in Saarland is also present.
Deputy police chief Heiner Schmolzi reports that the task of the patrol was to investigate burglaries. The operations center would have heard shots over the radio, but the colleagues would only have found the police candidate dead in front of the police car and the chief inspector badly injured behind the car. An identity card and a driver’s license of the person arrested later were found at the scene of the crime.
Melanie Morbach from the Saarland State Police Headquarters says the suspect was arrested when he left a residential building in Sulzbach around 5 p.m. A second suspect was arrested in the house without resistance.
Public prosecutor describes crime and confirms arrest warrants
Chief Public Prosecutor Stefan Orthen confirms that arrest warrants have been issued against both suspects and that they are now in custody. A large number of wild animals were lying in the van of the two. The two murder weapons are said to be a shotgun and a hunting rifle. “We assume that two guns were used and that each of them fired,” says Orthen. The police officer was shot in the head with a shotgun and the policeman was hit four times. Orthen assumes that the two suspects shot to cover up their poaching. There are indications that the two suspects were poaching for profit.
When asked by journalists, the investigators replied that the 38-year-old was already on record for hit-and-run and poaching. Where the weapons came from is currently being determined. According to investigators, there are no bodycam recordings of the crime. The police candidate was close to the end of her training, and it is quite common for trainees to be used as full-fledged colleagues, the investigators explain. The suspects are not related to each other. The 38-year-old refuses to testify that the 32-year-old has confessed to poaching, but denies having shot the police officers himself. The police candidate probably had a flashlight and the papers in her hand and was unsuspecting. The policeman shot his magazine empty. Both suffered headshots. The exact course of events has not yet been reconstructed.
The police have no information about the connections between the two suspects and the Reich Citizens’ Scene. In the meantime, the police – contrary to what was initially assumed – assumes that there are only two perpetrators. The police became aware of the second suspect living in the immediate vicinity through the car. There are marks that match bullet holes. The suspects themselves did not suffer any gunshot wounds.
Weapons arsenal found on suspects
Investigators recovered a large arsenal of weapons from the suspects. As reported by security circles on Tuesday, the police found five handguns, a repeating rifle, ten other long guns, a crossbow and a silencer and ammunition during a house search in Spiesen-Elversberg, Saarland. According to the information, the investigators assume that the arrested 38-year-old suspect had access to the weapons. Two long guns were found in the home of the second suspect, it said. The 32-year-old had declared his willingness to testify.
Jagdverband horrified by shot police officers
The German Hunting Association explained, the 38-year-old did not have a valid hunting license. According to the current state of knowledge, the responsible authority in Saarland rejected his application for a new hunting license due to lack of reliability. The association was appalled by the “cold-blooded police murder” and called on the authorities to quickly clarify where the murder weapons came from and how they came into the suspect’s possession.
Early Monday morning, a 24-year-old police officer and her 29-year-old colleague were shot dead during a traffic check in the Kusel district. Two suspects were initially on the run, but were arrested on Monday.
So far, two suspects in the Kusel case
The suspects are two 32 and 38-year-old men who, according to initial findings, are friends, said a spokesman for the state police headquarters in Saarland in the evening. Both are suspected of being involved in the killing. The police initially did not want to comment on possible motives.
One of those arrested is Andreas Johannes S. from Spiesen-Elversberg in Saarland, who was the first to be put out to search. The fugitive was arrested in the evening in Sulzbach near his home. In the course of searching several objects, another 32-year-old suspect was arrested without resistance. The act sparked nationwide outrage.