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Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told a press conference on Wednesday that an evaluation of the video footage confirmed that he was the sole perpetrator of the Islamist assassination Monday night in Vienna, the MTI reported.
The head of the ministry also said that the Slovak secret service had informed the Austrian Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight Against Terrorism (BVT) of the 20-year-old assassin’s attempt to buy ammunition.
The interior minister also acknowledged that “something has clearly escaped communication with the organization under his supervision regarding future actions.”
Nehammer therefore urged the establishment of an independent inquiry commission.
Notably, a murderer with Albanian roots, identified by Austrian authorities as Kujtim Fejzulai on Monday evening, killed four people and wounded 23 in the center of Vienna near a synagogue. Two men and two women died of their injuries after a man armed with machine guns, imitation explosive belts, pistols and knives opened fire on those seated in crowded bars and cafes.
The Slovak police claim that the case was previously reported to the Austrian authorities.
Vienna police said Wednesday that the attacker had killed two Austrian citizens, one German and one North Macedonian. Most of the 23 injured are Austrians, but there are also German, Slovak, Bosnian, Luxembourgish and Afghan citizens. On Wednesday, three of them were still in the intensive care unit, but Vienna hospitals said their condition was stable.
However, contrary to previous reports from various attackers, a lone wolf-like terrorist act typical of the recent period took place in Vienna. This type of perpetrator is much more difficult to detect than terrorist groups and cells with a significantly larger detection “footprint”. Especially if important information is lost that reaches the offender that is already in view. A noteworthy fact, however, is the extremely fast response time of the authorities, who managed to find and neutralize the threat in a large city of two million within nine minutes of the alarm.
So far, the authorities have produced 14 people as a result of the attack. Schools will reopen in Vienna tomorrow.
On Tuesday, most of Vienna remained closed because authorities only said they had found no evidence of a second murder. Schools reopened on Wednesday, although daily life continues in a bed reduced by restrictions due to the coronavirus epidemic.
The Interior Minister shared the assessment of the investigators who analyze the video images taken at the scene of the attack.
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