Game was found in the trunk of one of the two suspects placed in pre-trial detention, announced the prosecutor of Kaiserslautern, in the west of the country.
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The motive for the double murder of police officers in Germany is now established. The shooters had “for the purpose of concealing poaching”, Kaiserslautern prosecutor Stefan Orthen announced on Tuesday, February 1. Investigators notably found game in the car trunk of one of the two arrested suspects, he said during a press conference with the police.
The two officers – a 24-year-old woman still in training and a 29-year-old man – had been shot dead on a country road the day before at around 4:20 a.m. They were then checking the vehicle of the two suspects, aged 32 and 38, near the small town of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate. This affair caused astonishment in the country. The Minister of the Interior, Nancy Feaser, notably denounced a “execution” of the two victims while the Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, expressed his sorrow.
The identity card and driver’s license of the main suspect, the 38-year-old, were found near the body of the young police officer. The investigators had launched a vast call for witnesses to try to find this man named Andreas Johannes Schmitt. This man, known in particular to the police for poaching, was arrested late Monday afternoon at his home in Sulzbach, Saarland, not far from the French border. He was there with the second suspect, also arrested, and “several weapons” were found on this occasion, according to the regional police. Both men were remanded in custody.
“We assume that two weapons were used and that each of them fired”, said the prosecutor, pointing out that “many game” were found in the trunk of the suspects’ vehicle. The 32-year-old denied shooting one of the two officers but admitted poaching, according to Stefan Orthen. The other, however, remained silent, according to the same source.