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After more breakdowns became known by the authorities in connection with the Islamist attack in Vienna, the Austrian government took personal action. The head of the Vienna State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism (LVT), Erich Zwettler, was suspended from his duties, as announced by the President of the Vienna Police, Gerhard Pürstl, at a conference of press in Vienna. The Austrian government also ordered the closure of two radical Islamic mosques in Vienna that the perpetrator had visited.
The Islamist shot visitors to a bar and restaurant workers in Vienna on Monday night, killing four people, including a German. The attacker also injured 22 other people before being shot by police officers. The terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS) claimed the attack for itself.
The Interior Minister speaks of “obvious mistakes”
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer admitted other omissions by authorities ahead of Friday’s attack. There have been “obvious and, in our opinion, intolerable mistakes,” he said. Consequently, the killer apparently had contact with people who were on the radar of German constitutional protection. Therefore, a corresponding advice from the German authorities in Austria had no consequences.
In connection with the attack, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) also searched apartments and shops in several German cities on Friday morning. As announced by the BKA, two of the four people who were searched are said to have met the killer in Vienna in July.
Nehammer had already admitted on Wednesday that the Slovak secret service had informed Austrian authorities about an attempted purchase of ammunition by the perpetrator prior to the attack.
The head of the Vienna State Office for the Protection of the Constitution has been suspended from service at his request, according to Police Chairman Pürstl. The chief of authorities decided to take the step so as not to obstruct a “proper investigation and clarification,” Pürstl said.
A total of 16 suspects have been arrested since the attack four days ago. As announced by the Prosecutor’s Office to the AFP news agency, six of them have been released. However, eight people arrested between the ages of 16 and 24 are strongly suspected of helping the perpetrator in the run-up to the attack.
