More than three months after the fatal shooting of two police officers in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, the public prosecutor's office has brought charges of murder against the 38-year-old suspect.

The man was solely responsible for the death of the two officers, the Kaiserslautern public prosecutor announced on Tuesday.

He is said to have shot the police officers, a woman and a man, on January 31 at a traffic stop.

He wanted to cover up a poaching he had committed.

The investigations of the public prosecutor have shown that the 38-year-old man is said to have fired a total of three shots with the shotgun.

Accordingly, the alleged perpetrator fired the first shot "surprisingly from the shotgun at a short distance on the head of the police officer" and severely injured her.

The officer fell unconscious on the street, which made the 38-year-old assume that she was dead.

According to the public prosecutor, he fired the second shot from the shotgun at her colleague from a greater distance, hitting him in the buttocks.

The police officer fired his service pistol in defense.

The 38-year-old then shot the police officer three times with a hunting rifle and severely injured him each time.

According to prosecutors, the last shot hit the police officer in the head and was fatal.

When the 38-year-old then searched the police officer lying on the street for notes that he found compromising, he noticed, according to the investigation results, that she was still alive and fired another shot at her head with the shotgun.

The public prosecutor's office therefore accuses the 38-year-old of attempted murder in conjunction with dangerous bodily harm and two completed murders, as well as resistance and physical assault on law enforcement officials.

He is said to have acted to cover up poaching and the second and third homicides to cover up homicides that had already been committed.

Furthermore, the investigations had shown that the accused was earning his living mainly through poaching and the sale of the prey at the time of the crime.

According to the prosecutor, he killed the police officers out of greed in order to be able to continue this illegal occupation.