Skip to main content

German ‘Autobahn sniper’ sentenced to 10 ½ years

BERLIN (AP) — A court in Germany has sentenced a trucker to 10 ½ years in prison for shooting at fellow drivers more than 700 times over a five-year period.

In one incident a female driver was hit in the neck by a ricochet but survived.

The case of the ‘Autobahn sniper’ baffled police until last year, when they placed license plate scanners along the highway and compared all vehicles that passed with the times of the shootings.

The 58-year-old man was found guilty Thursday of four counts of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and dangerous interference with traffic. German news agency dpa reported he admitted the shootings but claimed not to have wanted to hurt anybody.

The regional court in Wuerzburg didn’t publish the man’s name, in line with German privacy rules.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hail to the chief: Take our presidential trivia quiz

EDITOR'S NOTE: WTOP first brought you this quiz in 2019. Presidents Day is coming. How well do you know the less-important facts about the nation's leaders? Take WTOP's quiz — with any luck, it won't take you all Presidents Day to finish it.
Read Next Story