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Heavily armed attackers shot and killed two people in the center of Vienna. More than a dozen more are injured. One of the perpetrators was shot dead by the police. Still looking for another.
At least two people were killed and more than a dozen injured in a firearm attack in central Vienna. One of the attackers was shot and killed by the police that night. At least one other perpetrator was wanted in a major manhunt, as announced by the mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig. Initially, the background to the attack was unclear. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz spoke of a “disgusting terrorist attack”.
The attack began around 8 p.m. in the Bermuda Triangle nightlife district, where many people were out and about 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 Ludwig, they shot “indiscriminately” at guests in bars. A victim died shortly after the attack, according to information provided by the ORF station, a passer-by. A woman injured in the attack later died in hospital, as Ludwig said.
Police among the wounded
According to him, a total of 15 people were admitted to hospitals after the attack, several of them seriously injured. A police officer was among the injured. 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.
Kurz said on the ORF channel that the perpetrators were equipped with automatic weapons. The attack was prepared very professionally. A witness told ORF that one of the attackers fired savagely with a rapid firearm before police arrived and opened fire.
So far, there is no history of the attackers.
The newspaper “Bild” reported that the main possible culprit was a supporter of the jihadist militia of the Islamic State (IS). He announced his act on Instagram. The Interior Ministry spokesman in Vienna, Harald Sörös, told the Austrian news agency APA that his house could not confirm the “Bild” report at the moment.
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 Karl 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.
