The cruel death of the two young police officers on the district road near Kusel seems to have been largely resolved. Two Saarlanders, Andreas S. (38) and Florian V. (32), are suspected of having committed murder together and are in custody. They are said to have shot and killed a 24-year-old police officer and her 29-year-old colleague in the early morning of January 31.
The two alleged perpetrators were apparently caught poaching. However, it is completely unclear how S. and V. were able to build up a real arsenal of weapons. This raises the question of a possible failure of the authorities. In one district there is also a worrying proximity to hunters.
Detailed information shortly after the fact
It was treacherous – the voice message that made the rounds in hunting circles after Kusel’s deadly shots. The president of the Rhineland-Palatinate hunting team, Dieter Mahr, reported on WhatsApp a few hours after the terrible events in astonishing detail about the act and the life of Andreas S., which was characterized by poaching.
Finally, he addressed a few reassuring words to his family. There are numerous inquiries from the media to the hunting association. However, it is currently purely about the “horrible crime” not about “hunting” or “legal or illegal possession of weapons”. Mahr expressed his hope that it will stay that way.
Origin of the murder weapons unclear
The hunters are obviously afraid that the death of the two young police officers could result in a further tightening of gun laws. A discussion about hunting licenses, gun ownership cards (WBK) and controls by the authorities should be avoided as far as possible – Andreas S. was a hunter for many years, had a hunting license and WBK.
After an alleged hunting accident with a seriously injured fellow hunter, his hunting license was revoked once, but he got it back after a five-year ban. In March 2020 – after financial irregularities in his bakery – S. did not have the hunting license extended.
District council refers to data protection
Hunting was officially taboo for him. According to the district council, he passed his weapons on to persons entitled to acquire them. To whom remains unclear. To his wife, who is a hunter herself? The district council left this question unanswered, referred to data protection and to the fact that according to the media law one is not obliged to provide further information.
That also applies to the question of whether there were controls in Mr. and Mrs. S.’s residential property? Whether the lower weapons authority – i.e. the district of Neunkirchen – checked that the weapons were properly stored and secured? In addition to all this, the district council is silent, which has taken over the press work in matters of weapons law for the district administrations involved because of the frequent changes of residence of the former hunter Andreas S.
Armory excavated – from the handgun to the crossbow
The fact that there were regular checks on the S. family, independent of suspicion, is currently unlikely and could have been a mistake. Because after all: After the SEK in Sulzbach seized 17 weapons alone in the property of S. and his wife in Spiesen-Elversberg – from the repeating rifle to the crossbow.
A shotgun and a Winchester were also confiscated in Sulzbach – it is unclear whether these are the murder weapons. According to the public prosecutor in Kaiserslautern, the forensic investigations have not yet been completed. But it hasn’t been a secret among hunters for a long time: the district weapon authorities are having a hard time with on-site inspections due to staffing.
Clerk at the same time state hunting master
There are around 5,000 hunters in Saarland alone, but officials in the weapons authorities are rare. In the Neunkirchen district office responsible for Spiesen-Elversberg, there is also a very special constellation. The clerk in charge is also a functionary of the Association of Hunters in the Saarland – he is the deputy state master hunter and district master hunter in Neunkirchen. In view of this constellation, one could assume that someone is checking himself and his fellow hunters.
Conflict of interest in the Lower Weapons Authority?
No, says Neunkirch District Administrator Sören Meng (SPD). No “concern of bias” – quite the opposite. At the Lower Weapons Authority, “even specialist knowledge in the field of hunting and forestry is expressly desired when filling positions”.
In addition, the four-eyes principle is observed during inspection rounds. The person concerned has been performing the dual function for 38 years, approved by the district administrator at the time. 38 years without complaints. The Saar Ministry of the Interior also says this, but it cannot confirm Meng’s claim that there are similar constellations in other districts.
opinion
To be clear: the murder of the two police officers would probably not have been prevented by strict gun cabinet controls. The market for illegal guns is just too big.
On the other hand, where legal weapons are on the move – among hunters and shooters – you also have to take a close look. Even the nasty appearance of bias, the suspicion that the inspectors and the inspected are too close must be avoided. Since Kusel, nothing has been the same with the hunters either – back then 38 years ago.