A massive search is underway in northern Austria for a gunman who allegedly fatally shot two people and fled the scene, local police said on Monday.
Franz Hofer, mayor of Kirchberg ob der Donau, was killed in the village of Altenfelden in Austria’s rural Muhlviertel region, near the border with Germany and the Czech Republic. A second man was also shot dead a short time later, Upper Austrian police spokeswoman Ulrike Handelbauer told CNN.
A large-scale police operation using helicopters and special forces is underway, she said. The suspect is believed to be armed and local residents have been advised to stay in their homes. Handelbauer also said, as reported by local media:
Unfortunately, we assume that the perpetrator we are looking for could be carrying the weapon.
According to police, the incident was caused by a dispute over hunting rights.
According to local publication Kronen Zeitung, the suspect was known to hunters in the area. “He was a difficult person,” a hunter from the area who wished not to be named said.
The shooting shocked officials at the regional headquarters of the People’s Party (ÖVP) in Linz. “This is madness,” party leader Florian Hiegelsperger said.
Herbert Sieghartsleitner, the hunting master of the land, said what had happened was “unbelievable.” He said, as reported by Kronen Zeitung:
I am deeply shocked by what has happened. I knew Franz Hofer very well personally.
