Authorities in northern Austria have launched an extensive manhunt following a deadly shooting incident on Monday morning, October 28, which left two people dead, including a local mayor, and another individual injured.
The incident is believed to be rooted in a conflict over hunting rights, according to official reports.
The suspected gunman, identified by the police as 56-year-old Roland Drexler, remains on the loose. According to police spokesperson Ulrike Handlbauer, Drexler is considered “armed and extremely dangerous”.
On the morning of the incident, the shooting took place in the Rohrbach district of Upper Austria, close to the Czech border. The body of Franz Hofer, 64, the mayor of Kirchberg ob der Donau, was discovered in a meadow roughly half a mile from a main highway in the village of Altenfelden.
Hofer, who had been serving as the town’s mayor since 2008, was also the local hunting director of the town with around 1,000 residents. The second victim, believed to be a current or former hunting official, was found in the nearby town of Arnreit. The identity of the third person injured in the attack has not been disclosed.
The incident is believed to be connected to a longstanding disagreement over hunting rights in the region. Local media outlets reported that Hofer had recently filed a complaint against Drexler, accusing him of “unhuntsmanlike behavior”.
Members of the local hunting community have described Drexler as a “problematic” individual, according to reports.
EKO Cobra, an elite special forces unit of the Austrian authorities, has been deployed to aid in the search for Drexler. Police helicopters are also assisting in the manhunt by scanning the area, while residents have been advised to stay indoors.
Herbert Sieghartsleitner, the State Hunting Master, expressed his shock at the incident, stating, “I knew Franz Hofer very well personally. It is unbelievable what is happening right now.”
As the manhunt continues, the area around the crime scenes has been cordoned off by the police. A security perimeter has been established, and a systematic search of the region is underway.
