Before the killing of four people in the Rotenburg district, the estranged wife and her new boyfriend reported the suspect. “The two were with us recently,” said police spokesman Heiner van der Werp on Sunday. The criminal complaint was about a possible threat; he did not mention any specific content. The NDR had previously reported.
Shortly after the report, there was a so-called threat speech, according to the spokesman for the Rotenburg police. Police officers explained the situation to the 32-year-old Bundeswehr soldier and described possible consequences. “So it’s a de-escalating measure.” The speaker did not know the exact content of the conversation. “Everything else will of course now be checked after the crimes,” said van der Werp. He is not aware of any further complaints against the 32-year-old, but they cannot be ruled out.
The Verden public prosecutor’s office gave no information on the status of the investigation on Sunday. The suspect is said to have killed two people in a single-family home on Friday in Westervesede, a town in the municipality of Scheeßel: a 30-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman. The man is then said to have shot a 33-year-old woman and a three-year-old child in Bockel, which is part of the Bothel municipality. Here too, the crime scene is a single-family home.
Information from the investigating authorities about the suspect’s relationships with the victims was also still pending. “A motive in the family environment cannot be ruled out,” it said in a statement on Friday.
The act of violence shocks people. Neighbors remembered the victims with flowers and candles. A bouquet of flowers and a few candles were placed in front of a house in Scheeßel, a dpa photographer reported on Saturday. A note with the inscription “Our thoughts are with you! Your neighbors” was laid out. A police patrol car was parked in front of the sealed house. There were also candles in front of the house in front of the second crime scene in the municipality of Bothel, a few minutes away.
The suspect is said to have turned himself in at the Von Düring barracks in the city of Rotenburg (Wümme) on Friday morning and was taken into custody on Friday afternoon. It was not yet known on Sunday whether he had commented on the allegations.
It was also checked whether the murder weapon came from the Bundeswehr. According to dpa information, no weapon was missing from the Bundeswehr in this context.
On Friday, the suspect’s car, which was parked near the barracks, had a Molotov cocktail in the driver’s door and cartridge ammunition was in the trunk next to a Bundeswehr backpack. It was initially not known what the man intended to do with it.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius expressed dismay at the incident on Friday. “The multiple killings of innocent people in Scheeßel is simply horrific,” said the SPD politician. There is a lot to be said for an act in the context of a private relationship. “But that’s all speculation, I don’t want to and can’t take part in that right now,” explained the minister. “My condolences go out to the families of the victims, a crime like this is simply terrible.”
