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Police cordon in front of the crime scene in Langweid (July 2023)

Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / dpa

A sports shooter is said to have killed three hated neighbors with shots in the head in less than half a minute, then he is said to have injured two people with shots through an apartment door. The violent crime with three deaths in an apartment building in Langweid, Swabia, will be heard in the Augsburg regional court starting this Tuesday.

According to the public prosecutor's office, the background to the bloody crime was years of neighborhood disputes, for example over garbage cans and loud conversations on the terrace. The 64-year-old is charged with three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. 15 days of hearings are planned for the trial; the verdict is currently scheduled for July 25th.

Escalation after reporting a neighbor

According to the investigators, there were repeated arguments between the accused and two neighboring couples in the house with four apartments because of the defendant's impulsive behavior. The sports shooter had lived on the first floor with his wife for 15 years. Three years later, married couples moved in next door and were both killed in the crime on July 28, 2023, leaving behind an underage son. The third fatality was a 72-year-old on the ground floor who had lived there with her husband since mid-2020.

The crime is said to have been triggered by a complaint against the 64-year-old following another argument. After the police were at the house, the man, who legally owned several weapons, allegedly decided to kill his neighbors. According to the prosecution, when the immediate neighbor couple came from shopping, the 52-year-old and his 49-year-old partner were executed in the stairwell within a very short time. The shooter is said to have been lying in wait for this.

A few seconds later he is said to have fired at the other couple's door on the ground floor, murdering the 72-year-old. The perpetrator is said to have aimed specifically at the door spyhole in order to hit a person standing behind it in the skull. The man is then said to have driven to the pensioner's son in order to kill him too. The then 44-year-old son and his 32-year-old girlfriend barricaded themselves behind their apartment door, but were injured by shots fired through the door.

The defendant is said to have then fled, but police officers were able to track him down and arrest him a short time later on a company premises in the 8,900-resident community in the Augsburg district. According to the information, a pistol and a revolver - both loaded - were discovered in the man's car.

wit/dpa