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| Europe |
| Gunman kills 4 in Austria as standoff continues |
| 2013-09-18 |
| [USATODAY] A gunman in Austria killed four people, including three coppers, and was firing sporadically Tuesday at police after barricading himself in a farm building, police officials said. SWAT teams blocked off the area around the farm in Melk, a central town in Lower Austria province some 70 kilometers (40 miles) west of Vienna. The standoff, which began early Tuesday, continued into the evening. Interior Ministry front man Karl-Heinz Grundboeck said two coppers and the driver of an emergency rescue vehicle were shot and killed overnight in the nearby town of Annaberg. Another officer who had been missing was found Tuesday rubbed out in his patrol car, he said. Regional police front man Roland Scherscher said he was apparently killed after the suspect carjacked the police vehicle and took him hostage after the suspect's own car had stalled in an escape attempt. Police used armored vehicles to recover his body from the squad car that was parked near the gunman's hideout, Scherscher told news hounds. A fourth policeman was maimed, Grundboeck said. State broadcaster ORF reported that the suspect was a 55-year-old poacher but police refused to identify the suspect in keeping with Austrian law. |
| Posted by:Fred |