Soldier shot: “For now, no official consequences” for non-commissioned officer

“At the moment it is assumed that it is a self-defense situation. There is no urgent suspicion of murder,” said Erich Habitzl, spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office. The conscript is said to have threatened his comrades with an assault rifle, and his superior is said to have intervened.

According to Habitzl, statements by the suspected shooter and three witnesses as well as the circumstances of the crime scene showed that the 20-year-old hit his superior several times in the head with an assault rifle. The 54-year-old non-commissioned officer suffered a severely bleeding head wound. During the attack, the Burgenlander is said to have drawn his weapon and killed the conscript.

According to the police, the 54-year-old was treated as an outpatient in the hospital. For the time being, there are “no legal consequences for him,” said federal army spokesman Michael Bauer.

The State Criminal Police Office took over the investigation, reported police spokesman Johann Baumschlager. Traces were secured and interrogations carried out on Friday. The 54-year-old was initially arrested but released after questioning.

The cause of the incident is still the subject of investigations, said Habitzl on request. According to the spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office in Wiener Neustadt, one to three shots were fired. A shot report by the Federal Criminal Police Office should clarify more details. The result of the autopsy is also awaited. According to Habitzl, it is also checked whether a crime reconstruction is being made.

The soldier is said to have repeatedly hit him in the head with the barrel of the gun

According to army spokesman Michael Bauer, the incident happened shortly before the changing of the guard, which was scheduled for 7 a.m. The conscript is said to have threatened his comrades in the guard station with the assault rifle. Her superior, the officer of the day, saw this from the outside and wanted to intervene to de-escalate it. The military sergeant then “jumped at the 54-year-old, kicked him and hit him several times in the head with the barrel of the gun,” said the spokesman. The other three guards fled. According to Bauer, there was a scuffle in which the recruit was fatally injured. Original information, according to which the basic soldier should have shot several times, has not been confirmed.

According to a broadcast, the soldiers are looked after by the Army Psychological Service. A commission of inquiry was set up. An initial report should be available after 48 hours.

The guard consists of two conscripts and the officer of the day, a professional soldier, as a superior, explained the army in a broadcast. Access to the barracks area is controlled. Guardsmen are armed with a half-loaded assault rifle, their superior carries a loaded pistol. The recruit had been assigned as the watch commander. According to the broadcast, the 20-year-old started his basic military service last September. He had been a guard at the Wiener Neustadt barracks since mid-October. The blameless 54-year-old has worked in the army since 1987 and in the airfield barracks since 2007.

The airfield barracks in Wiener Neustadt was the scene of a deadly dog ​​attack in November 2019. A 31-year-old soldier, who among other things was responsible for running and feeding several animals, was found lifeless in a kennel. An investigation against the responsible dog handler and against those responsible for the army who had not been specifically investigated was discontinued at the end of 2020.

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