Trial in Feldkirch

“Sender” shooting: Turkish man (28) on trial

The 28-year-old Turk was led into the courtroom in handcuffs. Although he admitted to having fired the shots, he denied having acted with intent to kill.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall)

In January 2024, two Chechens were shot and seriously injured in front of the "Sender" nightclub in Lustenau. The case made headlines across Austria. On Monday, the 28-year-old shooter was found guilty of attempted murder and violation of the Weapons Act at the Feldkirch Regional Court.

The two defense lawyers, Franz-Josef Giesinger and Zehra Yilmaz-Arslan, had only pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm on the grounds that their client had "deliberately aimed at the feet of the two men because he only wanted to hurt them". "If the defendant had wanted to kill her, he would have been able to do so."

However, the jury saw things differently at the end of the long trial day: with seven votes in favor and one against, they found the Turk, who had several previous convictions, guilty of firing five shots with intent to kill in front of the "Sender" nightclub in Lustenau on the night of 28 January last year, seriously injuring two men. Both victims were Chechens.

Visit to friends
During his interrogation, the accused, who had previously been wanted by the police for another matter, said that he had visited friends at the "Sender" that evening and had been in the office. On a video, he had observed how the two Chechens had been turned away by the security guards at the entrance. There had been provocations. He then grabbed his pistol and tried to run away.

The police operation after the shooting attack in front of the "Sender"

(Bild: Maurice Shourot)

A conflict then broke out outside the front door. "One of the Chechens wanted to invite me to a fight, man against man", the accused described. He was then pursued by the two. "I just wanted to keep them at a distance with the shots, but not kill them, just injure them."

Defendant: "I have many enemies"
When asked by the judge why he had a pistol with him despite the existing ban on weapons, the 28-year-old said: "Because I have many enemies and am constantly threatened with death." Prosecutor Simon Mathis also confirmed that the defendant was a very good shot, according to his own statements: "He shot at the two opponents with a change of aim and on the move. He fired five shots in one and a half seconds."

Escape with the SUV
Three bullets hit the victims. After the crime, the shooter fled in his SUV, but was arrested a few weeks later during a random check in Basel. The investigation into the case proved difficult because several witnesses had made false statements to the police in order to cover up for the perpetrator. They have already been put on trial. Files from the "Sender" surveillance cameras were also subsequently converted. However, the LKA was able to restore the sequences and string them together.