21-Year-Old Charged After Fatal Shooting in Carinthian Barracks

"Based on the available evidence, the public prosecutor's office assumes that the accused took his service weapon from the holster and pulled the trigger during the conversation with the victim," the Klagenfurt public prosecutor's office said in a statement on Monday.

Fatal Shot in Carinthian Barracks: Accused 21-Year-Old Trained in Handling Glock

The defendant's lawyer, Salzburg attorney Kurt Jelinek, opposed the public prosecutor's portrayal, which assumes an intentional act of killing. The fact that the two men met was due to "mere coincidences," Jelinek told the APA. "It was a tragic fateful accident," he explained. "They enlisted together at that time. There was no hostility between them." His client will therefore plead not guilty to the charge of murder, "but guilty of grossly negligent homicide." Jelinek also pointed out that the public prosecutor's investigations could not uncover a motive.

The fatal shooting occurred shortly before 4:00 p.m. in the barracks' guard room, with the events recorded by surveillance cameras. The later deceased had a curfew on October 22. He was supposed to report to the officer of the day every two hours and therefore went to the guard room around 3:50 p.m., where the accused had been on duty since the morning. He had undergone a three-week guard commander training during basic training. He was trained in handling the service weapon intended for guard duty - a Glock P80. Since July 2024, he had regularly performed guard duty in the Türk barracks, where he was always assigned a pistol at the start of his shift. The weapons were otherwise kept in a locked locker.

In the guard room, there was a brief conversation between the two young men. The officer of the day was not in the room at that time - he was out to investigate the cause of a power outage that had affected barracks operations around 2:00 p.m. According to the indictment, nothing is known about the content of the conversation. Before their military service, the two young men had only known each other fleetingly. In the army, they then had regular contact. About 20 minutes before the incriminated act, they had sent each other photos of their shoulders via Snapchat to show the obviously visible results of their respective strength training.

Prosecutor Assumes Intent After Fatal Shot in Carinthian Barracks

During the conversation with the 21-year-old, the accused suddenly took his service weapon from the holster "and pulled the trigger when the barrel of the weapon was aimed at the chest of the person about two meters away," according to the indictment available to the APA. The projectile penetrated the 21-year-old's chest and lung, exited in the back area, and ricocheted off the door. The shot man ran out of the building, holding a hand to his chest and shouting to the approaching officer of the day in a state of shock, "Help, help! Something stabbed me from behind!" before collapsing. The officer attempted to provide first aid and initiated the rescue chain. Despite rapid emergency medical assistance and the deployment of a rescue helicopter, the 21-year-old died from bleeding out due to the lung shot in the shock room of the Klagenfurt clinic.

The defendant admitted to firing the shot after his arrest, but claimed it was unintentional. From the prosecutor's perspective, he has so far "only confessed to negligent homicide," as noted in the eleven-page indictment. The prosecution, however, refers to "credible statements from the witnesses interviewed, the surveillance videos, the investigations at the crime scene, the military documents obtained, and the conclusive, comprehensible expert reports" to argue that there was an intentional intent to kill. They consider the defendant's statements to be not very credible.

During his formal interrogation as a suspect in the investigation, he stated that he was just about to take off his belt and holster when he was suddenly addressed by the victim in the guard room. He was startled, made a "slight jerk," turned towards the victim, and noticed that "something" was falling. In response to the pistol falling to the ground, he "kicked up with his foot at what had fallen" and "kicked the weapon up." He believes he briefly had the weapon in his hand while catching it, "but not really for long." Then the 21-year-old had already run out.

Motive for Fatal Shot in Carinthian Barracks Could Not Be Determined

"This sequence of events is, on the one hand, not consistently comprehensible and, on the other hand, appears constructed," the prosecution notes in its written indictment. It is a "protective claim." The prosecution emphasizes, in particular, that according to the video recording, the deceased had been in the guard room for two minutes and six seconds and had spoken with the defendant. Therefore, there can be no talk of a surprising address as claimed by the defendant. The forensic report on the weapon also contradicts the defendant's statements, it continues.

To clarify this question, numerous witnesses were interviewed during the investigation, as emphasized in the indictment: "Nevertheless, no conflict between the defendant and the victim could be proven." It is "possible that a conflict developed only shortly before the shot was fired during the conversation." Furthermore, "due to the Turkish roots of the victim, an investigation was also conducted regarding a potentially xenophobic motive." The defendant is said to have spoken positively about FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl to a colleague and referred to a soldier with a migration background as a "Kanake." However, this does not "sufficiently indicate a xenophobic motive," the prosecution concludes.

The defendant or his defense attorney has 14 days to contest the non-final indictment. If an objection is filed, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Graz would have to deal with it. Should the indictment become final, a main trial before a jury at the Regional Court in Klagenfurt could take place in the summer.

(APA/Red)

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