A 56-year-old hunter suspected of fatally shooting two people, including a local mayor, in Upper Austria’s Mühlviertel region has been found dead in a wooded area on Saturday afternoon.

Circumstances suggest he took his own life, Rudolf Keplinger, Deputy Head of the State Police Directorate, told a press conference in Linz.

The killings, which occurred on Monday, prompted a large-scale manhunt involving around 250 officers.

The suspect allegedly shot a local mayor in Fraunschlag, in the municipality of Altenfelden, and a former hunting warden in neighbouring Arnreit, both with precise shots to the head, within an hour and a half on Monday. The motive is thought to be linked to a longstanding dispute over hunting rights.

The armed suspect then fled by car, and his trail quickly went cold. By Friday, his vehicle had been located near the first crime scene.

“We have to assume that the car was parked late on Thursday evening or in the night leading up to Friday at the spot where it was found,” said Incident Commander Markus Vorderderfler. A tip-off indicated a vehicle had driven into the woods, although the area had already been searched without success. It’s believed the suspect may have changed location out of nervousness. The search was focused heavily on two hunting grounds associated with the fugitive, along with a third area to the south towards the Danube.

Over 400 tips on the suspect’s whereabouts came in over recent days, all of which were followed up, Keplinger said. He expressed gratitude to the public for their understanding during the operation.

“We had to assume that the suspect wouldn’t allow himself to be apprehended and would use his firearm,” he said, adding that officer safety had been paramount. In his 41 years on the force, he had never experienced anything quite like this. Andreas Feilmayr, acting head of the Cobra special unit in Linz, described the suspect as a “highly dangerous adversary,” noting that the operation had carried “a great deal of risk.”