German soldiers are conducting an exercise in Austria. A huntress sees the camouflaged figures in the dark – and pulls the trigger.
A 68-year-old Austrian woman was confronted with fear in Carinthia when she saw German soldiers from her hunting highseat. As first reported by the “Kleine Zeitung,” the huntress fired because she felt threatened.
The incident occurred last Friday evening, confirmed a police spokeswoman to the news agency dpa. A joint exercise of hunting command soldiers from the Austrian Armed Forces and the German Bundeswehr had been taking place in the Austrian district of St. Veit an der Glan for several days at that time.
The huntress was in a forest near Friesach around 9:30 PM on Friday. Suddenly, she spotted a group of German soldiers, reported the “Kleine Zeitung.” The camouflaged soldiers were on foot.
The woman then grabbed her rifle and fired. She subsequently called the police emergency number. At least one shot with live ammunition was fired, it was stated. No one was injured. It is currently unclear whether the shot was in the air or in the direction of the soldiers.
An investigation against the woman is now underway. On-site, she had to surrender her rifle. A preliminary weapons ban has been issued against her.
Mario Deutschmann, the administrative director of the Carinthian hunters’ association, told the “Kleine Zeitung” that if someone feels threatened, it is best to call the emergency number. This applies to hunters as well. There is no warning shot provision in the Carinthian hunting law for situations where one feels threatened by people while hunting.
The Austrian-German exercise will continue until the end of this week. About 130 soldiers are participating in it.