Man Caught With Fake Vaccination Card Kills His Wife, Three Children Before Taking Own Life Over Fear Of Punishment

A German man caught with a fraudulent vaccination certificate reportedly killed his wife and three young daughters before taking his own life over fear that his children would be taken away by authorities as punishment for his transgression.

The 40-year-old man, a teacher by profession, allegedly shot and killed his 40-year-old wife and their three children, aged 10, 8, and 4, in their house in Koenigs Wusterhausen, Senzig, Germany after being exposed owning a bogus vaccination card.

After mass murdering his own family, the man reportedly turned the gun on himself and took his own life. The bodies of all five family members were discovered in their house by the police officers on Saturday, Dec. 4, the Independent reported.

Police were reportedly summoned to the scene after the family's neighbors saw the victims' lifeless bodies lying inside the residence through the house's windows and quickly alerted the authorities.

At the scene, police found a handwritten note written by the man. In the letter, he admitted that he had forged a vaccination certificate for his wife. However, his employer, TH Wildau University, found out about the fake certificate and “wanted to prosecute him for falsifying vaccination records with the utmost rigor."

Following this, the man feared that they would be arrested and that their children would be taken away from them and made the drastic decision to kill his own family, the Daily Mail reported.

Officers also recovered a gun from the residence that is believed to have been used to commit the killings. Prosecutor Gernot Bantleon said that it remains unclear how the man owned a gun since he “didn’t have a license to carry.”

The man was reportedly last seen alive by a neighbor on Friday, Dec. 3, while he was loading his van.

The officers are waiting for the victims' autopsy results to determine how long the family had been dead.

Meanwhile, Germany has been tightening restrictions to limit a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccine certificate was declared a criminal offense just two weeks ago. The crime is punishable by either a fine or a year's jail term.

Meanwhile, German authorities also reportedly agreed to ban unvaccinated people from accessing all but the most essential businesses such as food shops and pharmacies.