Stray hunting bullet kills car passenger

A stray bullet from an unidentified hunter killed a car passenger on a national highway in the southern state of Bavaria, German police announced on Tuesday.

Germany has strict hunting regulations and firearms deaths are rare.

Read more: Germany announces new hunting rules to combat African swine fever

Facts of the case

• While traveling along the B16 in Nittenau, in northern Bavaria, the windshield suddenly shattered and the passenger slumped over in the seat.
• The driver of the car attempted to help his injured friend, but the 47-year-old died at the scene.
• An autopsy revealed the passenger was struck and killed by a stray bullet from a hunting rifle.
• At that time there was a group of hunters nearby on an organized shoot, the local hunting organization confirmed.
• Police seized their weapons for testing but have not named the culprit.

Read more: Wild boar kills German hunter

Dangerous method: The incident has brought attention to the dangers of so-called "harvest hunting," in which a group of hunters surround a field that is being harvested and shoot animals, predominantly wild boar, that escape from the diminishing crop cover. In this method hunters are often on foot and lack the height provided by hunting towers that ensure bullets are aimed at the ground. Only one state has laws regulating such hunts.

'Tragic accident'

According to the Nittenau Hunting Association, the man was likely hit by a ricochet. "It must have been a tragic accident during a harvest hunt," Chairman Otto Storbeck told the newspaper Passauer Neue Presse.

Tight rules: Hunting near roads is tightly controlled normally. Shooters are required to ensure there is a landscape feature, such as a small hill, that will stop any stray bullets. Shooting near gravel roads is prohibited for risk of ricochets. One solution for harvest hunting is to construct a hunting tower in a car trailer that is towed along as the field is harvested, but this too is controversial as it potentially violates laws on shooting from a vehicle.

Rare event: According to the German Hunting Association, two people died and two were injured from hunting gun accidents last year. Nine people were injured in 2016. In mid-July a 56-year-old hunter was hit by a bullet in a field during a harvest hunt in Thuringia and died. A few days earlier, a six-year-old girl was shot in an allotment garden in Großsaara in Thuringia and had to undergo surgery. In March a 76-year-old hunter in Lower Saxony suffered life-threatening injuries when a shot was fired from his son-in-law's unsecured rifle.

Further investigations: More detailed findings will be provided by a shot appraisal expert from the State Criminal Police Office.

aw/jm (dpa, AFP)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.