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After the attack in Vienna, Chancellor Kurz of Austria called for the people behind the attack to be pursued by all means. In the city center, Islamists opened fire on passers-by at night, killing four people.
After the attack in central Vienna, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called for a determined fight against Islamism in a speech to the nation. The murder of passersby and restaurant visitors was in cold blood. “The attack was aimed at us and our free society,” Kurz said. He announced that he would find the perpetrators of the attack: “We will counter extremism by all means.”
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer had previously announced that the assassinated Vienna attacker was an ISIS sympathizer. The man was armed with an assault rifle and also wore an explosives belt as a mannequin. Apparently he wanted to spread panic.
Multiple arrests
Investigators searched the suspect’s home for incriminating material. Several people were arrested in the vicinity of the alleged perpetrator, the Ministry of the Interior reported. 1000 officials are on duty.
“Currently we cannot rule out that there are other perpetrators,” Nehammer said. The relevant investigations were in full swing. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz spoke of a “disgusting terrorist attack”.
Four dead passersby
Four bystanders were killed in the terrorist attack in central Vienna: two men and two women. A murderer was shot dead by police officers. 15 people were hospitalized with serious injuries. As a result of further police investigations, citizens were asked to avoid the city center. The attack began around 8 p.m. in the Bermuda-Dreieck nightlife district, where many people were away from home shortly before the start of the new crown curfews and in mild weather.
According to police, the attackers fired rifles at six different crime scenes. According to the mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig, they shot “indiscriminately” at guests in restaurants. In panic, countless passers-by sought refuge in the adjacent buildings.
“I was sitting in the front row of windows and I saw policemen passing by with their pistols drawn,” one of them said. He heard shots. Immediately afterwards, the first blue-light vehicles reached Schwedenplatz and police officers with assault rifles streamed out.
“Stand in front of the killer”
The crime scenes were located near the State Opera and the main synagogue in the Austrian capital. The president of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien, Oskar Deutsch, said on the online service Twitter that it was not yet clear whether the church was one of the targets. Therefore, the synagogue was closed at the time of the act and the community office building was unoccupied.
Schlomo Hofmeister from the Jewish community watched the attack from a window. He told the ORF broadcaster that an attacker had targeted visitors in bars and pubs across the street. The attackers ran. In that quarter of an hour they fired 150 shots, Hofmeister said.
A young man described the orf, who faced one of the assassins. “I was the only person there. He attacked me,” he said. He was seeking refuge behind a stone wall when the attacker tried to shoot him. He still heard gunshots, but managed to escape.
Kurz said on the ORF channel that the perpetrators were equipped with automatic weapons. The attack was prepared very professionally. Hundreds of officers were on duty during the nightly pursuit. The army took over the security of important buildings in Vienna. The Director General of Public Security, Franz Ruf, announced an increase in controls at the Austrian borders.
School attendance suspended on Tuesday
Interior Minister Nehammer called on Vienna residents to stay home and avoid the city center. Children in the capital left compulsory school on Tuesday. “We will never be intimidated by terrorism and we will combat these attacks with all means,” Foreign Minister Kurz emphasized.
Austria’s Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen declared: “We will defend our freedom and democracy together and resolutely by all means.” Speeches of solidarity for Austria came from all over Europe. “Our thoughts are with the wounded and the victims in these difficult hours,” said the Foreign Ministry in Berlin. He added: “We must not give in to the hatred that is supposed to divide our societies.” The ministry asked German citizens in Vienna to stay in a safe place until everything is clear.
World sympathy
The EU condemned the attack “cowardly”. The president of the council, Charles Michel, said in the online service Twitter that the act was directed against “life and our human values”. The president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted that Europe was “in full solidarity with Austria”.
French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that “a friendly country” and “Europe” had been attacked. “We will not back down,” he tweeted. In France, two attacks allegedly motivated by Islamists have been carried out in Paris and Nice in recent weeks, in which a teacher and three parishioners were killed.
With information from Clemens Verenkotte, ARD Studio Vienna
