Franz Hofer, the mayor of Kirchberg ob der Donau has been identified as a victim in a death spree involving a man accused of “unhuntsmanlike” behaviour. After being accused of ‘unhuntsmanlike behaviour,’ a hunter went on a shooting spree that resulted in the deaths of an Austrian mayor and another man, and injured a third.
At before 8:30 a.m. local time this morning, emergency services received reports that bullets had been fired in the Rohrbach district of upper Austria, killing the mayor of Kirchberg ob der Donau.
Residents have been instructed to barricade themselves indoors while Austrian authorities search for the gunman, whose name is unknown but is believed to be armed and dangerous. Austrian officials have deployed an elite special forces squad, EKO Cobra, to assist in apprehending the suspect. The mayor, known locally as Franz Hofer, was killed in the village of Altenfelden, in the midst of a meadow approximately 500 metres from a federal highway.
According to local media, he was a hunting director who had led the village of about 1,000 people since 2008, although he was planning to retire soon. While the cause for the terrible spree has yet to be determined, Austrian tabloid Kurier said that the mayor recently filed a complaint against the fugitive for ‘unhuntsmanlike actions’.
