Man’s Death Ends Long Gun Battle

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29994, 1 December 1962, Page 11

Man’s Death Ends Long Gun Battle

Press Association—Copyright) BRUCK-MUR (Austria), November 30. A heavily-armed killer of two policemen was himself killed today in his house after an all-night gun battle with police.

Josef Planasch, an 83-year-old former inmate of a mental hospital, shouted: "Come on. I’ve got plenty of rounds left,” as 50 police closed in on him. The police were stopped by a hail of bullets. The gunfight began after

police were alerted by neighbours of the Planasch family who overheard Planasch threaten his wife and six children. Planasch shot and killed two officers when they tried to force their way into his first-floor apartment. His wife and children escaped unharmed, but Planasch barricaded the house and opened fire on police reinforcements. Bruck-Mur is about 60 miles south-west of Vienna. When police returned the fire from the roof of a neighbouring house, Planasch retreated into the attic. Five policemen slipped into the house, but Planasch pinned them down by shooting through a hatch in the floor Tear-gas grenades were ineffective in a strong wind. A police officer, pleading with Planasch to surrender, got the reply: "Come up and get me."

“If he doesn't surrender, we'll wait until he runs out of ammunition. He can’t escape," a police spokesman said.

After keeping 50 heavilyarmed policemen and gendarmes in check for nearly 10 hours. Planasch was fatally shot in the head by police when he attempted to get out of the bullet-ridden attic.

He was shot down as he attempted to escape from the attic to the basement through an air conditioning shaft.