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Chechen shot dead in Salzburg market town

The Local Austria
The Local Austria - [email protected]
Chechen shot dead in Salzburg market town
Police investigate the crime scene. Photo: APA/MANFRED FESL

A 53-year-old Chechen man was shot dead in the market town of Strasswalchen in the Flachau region of Salzburg on Thursday afternoon. Shortly afterwards police arrested a 54-year-old suspect - also from Chechnya - who was armed with a gun.

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The dead man’s son discovered his father’s body and raised the alarm but paramedics were unable to revive him.

The suspect had fled on foot towards the forest on the edge of Strasswalchen, and several police cars pursued him.

Two kilometres from the crime scene the armed man was apprehended and arrested, offering no resistance to officers. 

In the presence of an interpreter he said that he and the victim had had an argument and that the 53-year-old had repeatedly insulted his honour. When he refused to back down the 54-year-old said he had drawn his gun and the two had tussled. He claimed that the gun went off during the scuffle and a bullet hit the younger man in the chest.

The Chechen did not have a license for the gun, and told police that he had “found it” two years ago in Vienna. He has been taken to Salzburg prison.

Groups of Chechens and Afghans recently clashed on the streets of Salzburg and the city’s Director of Security, Franz Ruf, told the Kronen Zeitung paper that violent crimes are increasingly associated with both groups of refugees. 

A local police chief from Strasswalchen told the paper that people in the town used to leave their doors unlocked but increasingly instances of theft and break-ins meant they were less trusting.

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