Shot at robber

“Wouldn’t have shot him, but shot him”

Three men broke into the family home of a wealthy couple on Wednesday night - one of them beat the 50-year-old occupant. The next day, evidence was secured and the building hermetically sealed off.

(Bild: Thomas Lenger, Krone KREATIV)

Shock in Würnitz (Lower Austria): Three men robbed a married couple on Tuesday night and attacked the woman with an iron bar. One of the suspects was shot by the homeowner. 

Icy winds blew through the village of Würnitz in the district of Korneuburg (Lower Austria) that night. "Crazy" and "Lilli" - Isabella Knoll's two dogs completely freaked out, ran around the house distraught and barked. The 54-year-old couldn't explain why.

Dogs sensed it
It was just before midnight, and her four-legged friends hadn't cared about the capricious weather until then. But this night was going to be different. And the animals sensed it. Because dark figures were sneaking through the gardens and finally struck ruthlessly in the neighborhood at 1 am.

I was able to speak to my client shortly after the crime. He acted in self-defense after his wife had been attacked.

Peter Philipp, renommierter Rechtsanwalt

The couple were asleep at the time
They forced their way into the home of a wealthy couple who were asleep at the time. The family dog raised the alarm, whereupon the wife woke up and went to investigate. She caught the trio in the act, whereupon the 50-year-old was immediately attacked with an iron bar and injured. Awakened by the noise, her husband rushed to her aid. He was also immediately attacked by the criminals. The 71-year-old then fired a shot from his revolver (which is legal as he has a gun permit) at the intruders and sent the robbers fleeing.

One of the three perpetrators was hit and collapsed in the garden. The other two managed to escape, but without any loot. The injured man - said to be Romanian - was operated on at the regional hospital and arrested. "His condition is stable", says Johann Baumschlager from the Lower Austrian regional police directorate.

The victims suffered a severe shock
Now the investigators of the crime scene and robbery group of the Lower Austrian Criminal Police Office are on the case. The investigation is in full swing and evidence is currently being secured. The 50-year-old woman was treated as an outpatient in hospital, both victims suffered severe shock as a result of the dramatic home invasion. The search for the two fleeing perpetrators has so far been unsuccessful.

At the "Krone" local inspection a few hours after the horror experience for the Weinviertel couple, the crime scene was hermetically sealed off by police officers. The victims barricaded themselves in the house, which had allegedly been broken into a few weeks earlier, according to a neighbor.

(Bild: Thomas Lenger, Krone KREATIV)

(Bild: Thomas Lenger, Krone KREATIV)

Neighbors are shocked
The shock in Würnitz is profound. "We live in a small community here," says Zita Lackermayer. She points to the church tower in the middle of the village and says that nothing bad has ever happened here before. "And now this!" In fact, there was an armed robbery at the local Raiffeisenbank branch exactly 14 years ago. The employee escaped with a fright - fortunately, so did the victims of the fatal break-in. The 71-year-old gunman will probably still have to answer to the judge.

Lackermayer no longer understands the world and, at 84 years old, says quite clearly: "I wouldn't have shot him, I would have shot him."