Hunter shoots colleague fatally on raised hide in Westerwald – investigation into manslaughter
A 50-year-old hunter dies at night on a raised hide near Dürrholz in the Westerwald after being shot. A 58-year-old hunt leaseholder is under investigation for manslaughter.
Fatal shooting on raised hide near Dürrholz – hunt leaseholder under suspicion
Shortly after midnight on Monday night, a shot rang out in a maize field near Dürrholz in Rhineland-Palatinate. According to reports, a 50-year-old hunter was sitting on a raised hide approximately three metres high – he was fatally struck by the bullet and died at the scene.
The Koblenz public prosecutor's office is investigating a 58-year-old hunt leaseholder for manslaughter. The authorities are currently treating the incident as an accident. The accused is presumed innocent.
How the shot came to be fired remains unclear. Investigators are examining, among other things, whether it was a ricochet. A thermal imaging camera was present at the time of the incident; whether it was used at the time of the shot is the subject of the ongoing investigation.
Comparable incidents have already occurred in Switzerland. During a wild boar hunt in 2024 in the Vaud region, a 64-year-old hunter was fatally struck by a bullet from a colleague's firearm – seven hunters were involved. And in 2019, a 50-year-old hunter died near Pedrinate in the Ticino region from a shot fired by his hunting colleague, who apparently mistook him for a wild boar.
Source: Blick