Wild scenes

Chase after fuel theft ends with a gunshot

The chase ended here.

(Bild: Davor Knappmeyer)

A wild chase took place on Sunday evening in the German-Austrian border region on Lake Constance. An armed man had been caught stealing fuel from a stolen vehicle in Lindau. His escape first took him to Vorarlberg before he returned to Germany, where he left the road - and finally fired a fatal shot.

On Sunday evening at around 10 p.m., a patrol from the Lindau border police station spotted a suspicious vehicle at a petrol station in the industrial area. The driver had refueled his vehicle there and then left without paying. The officers followed the vehicle and tried to stop it using a signaling device.

The driver did not comply with the request and evaded the check. Several patrols from the Lindau and Lindenberg police stations tried to follow the fleeing driver and persuade him to stop. It has since become known that the vehicle used has been reported stolen and that the driver is in possession of a firearm.

Rapid escape to Bregenz
Despite further requests to stop, the suspect accelerated and drove at high speed through Lindau towards the Austrian border. Austrian emergency services were also alerted for assistance. The driver turned around near Bregenz and drove back towards the Hohenweiler border crossing. The further escape route led via the B308 towards Lindenberg.

He broke through several police roadblocks and rammed into several police vehicles. On a bend in the road near Rohrach, he initially lost control of his vehicle and left the road. Several patrols then blocked the fugitive's onward journey. He did not respond to the subsequent police request to leave the vehicle.

Austrian special police unit deployed
Several pursuing forces, including a unit of the Austrian police's Cobra special task force, surrounded the vehicle. The driver, who had been identified in the meantime, barricaded himself in his car and at times threatened the forces from inside the vehicle with a firearm.

After several requests to leave the vehicle, the vehicle was finally seized. The 43-year-old man, who was born in Leutkirch, shot himself in the head and was seriously injured as a result. Emergency services treated the man and took him to hospital.

Several vehicles damaged
No firearms were used by the police. A total of three police vehicles and the suspect's vehicle were damaged during the pursuit. Two police officers sustained minor injuries.