Horrifying Details

Rejected love and jealousy as motives

The scene of the incident: The library at the middle school(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

Following the femicide in Taufkirchen an der Pram (Schärding district), further horrific details emerged the day after the crime. The perpetrator (29) is alleged to have killed his fellow teacher (28) in the school library with a dagger and a firearm out of unrequited love and jealousy.

While investigators initially assumed there had been a previous relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, new information emerged the day after the murder. Instead, the 29-year-old teacher is said to have killed his colleague out of jealousy and unrequited love. In any case, the victim and perpetrator are said to have had no prior relationship. “The trigger for the crime was likely the fact that the young woman had recently started seeing a boyfriend,” said Alois Ebner, spokesperson for the Ried District Attorney’s Office.

Weapon legally owned
The murder of the young woman ultimately took place in the school library on Friday afternoon. The perpetrator is said to have stabbed his female victim (28) multiple times in the neck with a dagger-like weapon in the early afternoon and then shot her three times in the head.

The 29-year-old legally owned the weapon. The man then drove away in his car and crashed into a tree at full speed. “Just before that, he shot himself in the head,” Ebner reports. There were no direct witnesses to the crime. After the victim’s mother became concerned because her daughter had not come home after school, she drove to the middle school in Taufkirchen an der Pram. There she saw her daughter’s car parked in the lot. A search of the building then began. The body was finally discovered in the library.

Our thoughts are with all the relatives and the school community during these difficult hours. We would like to express our sincere condolences to them.

Christine Haberlander und Bildungsdirektor Alfred Klampfer

Crisis intervention is required
The Department of Education immediately initiated measures to support the students, the teaching staff, and the family members. “The relevant authorities are working closely together to ensure the best possible care for the school community and to coordinate the next steps in a coordinated manner,” according to a press release. Crisis intervention measures were initiated immediately after the incident became known. Crisis Assistance Upper Austria conducted an initial intervention on Friday evening.

On Sunday, a coordination meeting will take place with representatives from Crisis Assistance Upper Austria, the affected school, the municipality, and the Department of Education to coordinate further measures. Parents will be informed afterward about how school operations will be organized on Monday.

If you or someone close to you is in a mental health crisis or experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact the telephone counseling service at 142. Additional crisis hotlines and emergency numbers can be foundHERE.