First mystery solved

Fatal shooting in barracks: How the young soldier died!

The fatal drama took place in the Türk barracks in Spittal on October 22.

(Bild: Christian Rosenzopf)

Exactly five weeks after the fatal drama in the guardroom of the Carinthian Türkkaserne barracks, new details about the course of events are now available: The 21-year-old soldier Mustafa P. was hit in the lung by a single bullet and immediately bled to death helplessly. It is also certain that the shot was fired differently than claimed.

What really happened in the guardroom of the barracks in Spittal an der Drau on the afternoon of October 22? For five weeks, there have been different versions of how the death of a conscript occurred - because the suspected shooter, a 20-year-old comrade, continues to claim that it was an unusual accident. 

So far, however, his statements are not considered credible by the judiciary. Lukas P. is therefore already in custody on urgent suspicion of murder. He is said to have fired the fatal shot from his service weapon, a Glock 17. "We are still waiting for the gunshot report," says Markus Kitz, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Klagenfurt. "But the medical examiner has at least been able to answer initial questions in a brief statement."

It is certain that "Musti", as he was called by friends and family, was not killed by a so-called "set-up" shot. Kitz: "That was also the version of the possible course of events - and that can be denied." The Glock was therefore not placed directly on the body, but the shot was fired from a distance. How far away the shooter and the victim really were from each other is still unclear.

Editor Kerstin Wassermann reports from Carinthia on the latest news from the justice system.

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut, Krone Kreativ)

But there are gruesome details about how quickly the young conscript lost his life: "He was shot through the lung and bled to death - that is the official cause of death," confirms Kitz. The motive as to why Lukas P. might have shot his comrade remains a mystery. Indications that there had been an argument between the two have not yet been substantiated.

Online investigations also remain unsuccessful for the time being. According to the public prosecutor's office, the social media profiles of both young men were analyzed and there was not even any confirmation that the two had known each other! Their social environment was also different - "Musti" comes from a Turkish family, Lukas is said to have had no points of contact with them.

What happens now? The 21-year-old's pre-trial detention is limited until December 9; by then there should be new findings, which will be presented to the detention and legal protection judge.