Man attacked cops with snakes

2004-09-20 13:56

Leoben - Police shot a man in the thigh after he wrapped himself with two deadly cobras and threatened to commit suicide, then swung the snakes at officers who had rushed to his home in southern Austria, officials said on Monday.

One of the cobras bit the 40-year-old man in the hand during Sunday afternoon's standoff in Leoben, a town in the southern Austrian province of Styria, Austrian state television reported. He underwent emergency surgery for the snake bite and the gunshot wound and remained hospitalised in critical condition Monday.

Two officers arrived at the man's apartment after he sent a cell phone text message to his girlfriend saying he planned to kill himself, ORF television reported, quoting police officials.

The officers unsuccessfully tried to overpower the man by using pepper spray, and one of the officers shot the man in the thigh after he began swinging the cobras at the patrolmen, authorities said. He was bitten while handling the snakes, they said.

Police said the man, whose name was not released in line with Austrian privacy laws, was intoxicated at the time. A reptile expert called to the scene said the man, a snake dealer, had more than 60 poisonous snakes in his apartment.

Officials removed the snakes, which were being cared for temporarily at a local zoo. - AP

- SAPA