Pörtschach train station

Wanted axe perpetrator caught: Seized at Lake Wörthersee

Cobra access at the train station in Pörtschach

(Bild: Kronen Zeitung, Krone KREATIV)

An international manhunt has been underway for Benjamin G. since Friday evening - now the handcuffs have clicked for the Styrian at the train station in Pörtschach. The 43-year-old suspect is said to have seriously injured an acquaintance in Graz with an axe and two knives.

Spectacular Cobra operation on the otherwise idyllic Wörthersee: following an anonymous tip-off, officers from the special task force moved out to the train station in Pörtschach on Tuesday afternoon in a commando operation and handcuffed Benjamin G., who had been on the run for days. As reported, the 43-year-old is said to have attacked and injured an acquaintance in Graz with an axe and two knives. The victim's wife alerted the police. The fugitive from Styria was considered dangerous, mentally ill and possibly armed. It is not yet known whether he actually had his legally registered shotgun with him when the task force seized him.

Cobra raid at the train station in Pörtschach

(Bild: Kronen Zeitung, Krone KREATIV)

Escape via Germany to Carinthia?
On Monday, officials were still saying that the wanted man had been staying at the Baltic Sea in Germany. And as it turned out, the fugitive had actually visited a doctor he knew in Kiel. 

However, Benjamin G. did not show up for the agreed appointment in the afternoon. Instead, he got back into his Skoda and drove around 1200 kilometers back to Carinthia.