The bullet holes in the window pane are close together, the shooter or shooters must have aimed properly. The victim: a farmer and FDP local politician from Hattenhofen, who was shot through the window early Sunday morning in his remote farmhouse and seriously injured. In his home, Hattenhofen in the foothills of the Alb, there is disbelief. The district council had already been operated on, but was not in mortal danger, the public prosecutor said on Monday.
Almost all other questions initially remain unanswered. With a special commission, the criminal police are trying to evaluate the clues. It seems clear that the farmer is not a casual victim. The perpetrator must have approached the secluded courtyard through the garden, shot through the windows at the back of the building and hit the local politician. Even more than 24 hours later, the bullet holes can still be seen in the panes.
A full-blooded politician
The background to the crime initially remained completely unclear: Was the man a victim because of his political activities? Or was something completely different behind it? The 65-year-old is a volunteer thoroughbred politician, said Hattenhofen Mayor Jochen Reutter of the German Press Agency. The victim took care of issues such as savings bank transactions or the closure of a smaller clinic. “Personally, I can hardly imagine that such a deed would develop from this political activity. But that’s all just speculation,” said the mayor.
Reutter said that he was not aware of any hostility towards the volunteer FDP politician. At the victim’s farm there are Christmas tree sales, a farm and also celebrations such as weddings. The man’s father was also in politics. “You know the family, you know him,” said the mayor of the tranquil community.
dismay at the fact
And although the background is completely unclear, the act of violence caused disbelief even in high political circles. In a letter to the members of the district council, Göppingen’s District Administrator Edgar Wolff said he was “deeply concerned and shocked by this act of violence”. The head of the FDP parliamentary group in the state parliament, Hans-Ulrich Rülke, told the dpa: “I am appalled by the terrible news.” His thoughts are now with the local politician and his family.
Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) wished the farmer and district councilor a speedy and full recovery. FDP faction leader Christian Dürr wrote on Twitter: “The attack on my party colleague in Hattenhofen leaves me speechless. I am shocked by this act of violence – and at the same time relieved that it did not have a worse outcome.”
The mayor says the local people are worried. Is the perpetrator still in town? What were the reasons? But the investigators are reluctant, they don’t know a lot, and some things cannot be said at the moment for reasons of investigative tactics. Mayor Reutter says: The most important thing is that the farmer gets well soon.
