Shock in Spittal: Murder trial begins after fatal shot in barracks!

Shock in Spittal: Murder trial begins after fatal shot in barracks!

On June 4, 2025, the trial began at the Klagenfurt regional court against a 20-year-old who is accused of fatally shooting a 21-year-old comrade. The incident occurred on October 22, 2024 in the Türk barracks in Spittal an der Drau. According to the gailtal-journal.at, the 21-year-old entered the guard room where the defendant was on duty during a short conversation. During the course of this conversation, the 20-year-old suddenly pulled out his service weapon and fired at his nearby comrade.

Based on the available reports, the public prosecutor's office assumes there was intent to kill, while the defendant speaks of an accident. The projectile penetrated the 21-year-old's chest and exited his back. Despite emergency medical help, the man died in the Klagenfurt Clinic from a punctured lung. The trial, presided over by Judge Dietmar Wassertheurer, is scheduled to last the entire day and is already attracting a lot of attention.

Details of the incident

As diepresse.com reports, the two men only knew each other superficially before their military service. There was a short and unplanned conversation in the guard room before the 20-year-old pulled out the gun and pulled the trigger. The prosecution expresses skepticism regarding the defendant's accounts, which are viewed as not very credible. The shot was fired while the defendant was on duty, which raises additional questions about the safety and handling of service weapons.

The legal implications should not be underestimated. Military criminal law is subject to special regulations that have developed over the years. During the First World War there were already a number of regulations regulating the handling of military offenses. This information is relevant to understand the context of the current proceedings, even though military justice has not existed in the same form since the end of the First World War. The tasks of the military courts were transferred to the civilian sector, which underlines the relevance of civil law aspects in this case utheses.univie.ac.at.

The trial is being followed closely and the verdict could have far-reaching consequences for the military community and the handling of service weapons in barracks. Based on the circumstances and the reports, the public prosecutor sees a clear intention to kill, which underlines the seriousness of the charge and could possibly lead to a harsh sentence.