Hunter kills mayor and man, wounds another in shooting ‘after being accused of ‘unruly’ behaviour’: manhunt underway as locals barricade themselves in Austria

A hunter has killed an Austrian mayor and another man and injured a third in a devastating shooting spree after he was reportedly accused of ‘unhuntsmanlike behaviour’.

This morning around 8:30 am local time, reports emerged of shots fired in the Rohrbach district of Upper Austria, killing the mayor of the town of Kirchberg ob der Donau.

Residents have been told to barricade themselves indoors as Austrian police hunt for the gunman, whose identity is currently unknown and is still believed to be armed and dangerous. Austrian authorities sent EKO Cobra, an elite special unit, to help arrest the suspect.

The mayor, locally named Franz Hofer, was murdered in the town of Altenfelden, in the middle of a meadow, about 500 meters from a national highway.

According to local media, he was a hunting director and had led the town of about 1,000 inhabitants since 2008, but he wanted to retire soon.

While a motive for the shocking attack has not yet been established, Austrian newspaper Kurier reported that the mayor had recently filed a complaint against the fugitive for “unruly behavior.”

Police officers patrol Altenfelden, Upper Austria, on October 28, 2024, after at least two men were shot dead in the morning in the Mühlviertel region

The mayor, locally named Franz Hofer (photo), was murdered in the town of Altenfelden, in the middle of a meadow, about 500 meters from a national highway.

Shots were fired this morning in the Rohrbach district of Upper Austria, where the mayor of the town of Kirchberg ob der Donau was murdered (File image of Kirchberg ob der Donau)

The town’s mayor was murdered by a man believed to be a hunter (file image from Kirchberg ob der Donau)

Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported that the two men had an argument over the allocation of hunting rights.

Acquaintances from the local hunting community told the newspaper that the suspect was ‘problematic’.

The second victim, an unnamed man found in nearby Arnreit, is also believed to have been a current or former hunting director.

The third victim has not yet been identified.

State hunting master Herbert Sieghartsleitner: ‘I am deeply shocked by what happened. I knew Franz Hofer very well personally. It’s unbelievable what’s happening now.’