Austrian army soldiers in an armored vehicle arrive near the villages of Grosspriel and Kollapriel, Austria, September 17, 2013.
Austrian police says it has found the charred body of a gunman, who killed three police officers and a paramedic, before barricading himself at his home.
Police spokesman Roland Scherscher told reporters the body was discovered by SWAT teams on early Wednesday after extinguishing a fire in a smoke-filled hidden basement on the farm grounds the suspect had holed up in.
The 55-year-old gunman had apparently set himself on fire after a five-hour stand-off with the police in a farm building near Melk, a town 70 kilometers (40 miles) west of Vienna.
One officer, whose car had been hijacked by the suspect, was among the dead and was found in a shed on the gunman’s property in Grosspriel.
On Tuesday, police had attempted to stop the man for alleged poaching charges near Annaberg, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Vienna, but he fled, a media report said.
The man then drove his car into a ditch where he shot one police commando in the neck and then a paramedic who had come to the officer™s assistance.
The suspect then fled on foot, but soon came across a police car and two officers. He killed one of the men and hijacked the car. The third officer was later found dead in the car on the suspect’s property.
Local residents said the well known poacher had a history of hassling police and licensed hunters, often leaving the heads of dead animals on roads.
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Copyright: Press TV