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Austrian police say the suspected gunman behind the Monday night firearm attack in Vienna that left four dead and 17 wounded was a 20-year-old Islamic State of North Macedonia sympathizer with a criminal record.
Wearing an explosive vest, the man was shot dead at 8:09 p.m. by Austrian special forces after he opened fire with an AK-47 machine gun near the city’s main synagogue on Monday night.
Before the attack, he announced on the social media platform Instagram his allegiance to ISIS chief Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi.
Another man and two women died from their injuries, while the Vienna hospital service said seven people were in a life-threatening condition with gunshot wounds and cuts.
Viennese police said Tuesday morning that they had raided addresses linked to the attacker and made several arrests. They downplayed reports late Monday that shootings had occurred at six locations in the city, but added that an accomplice was still at large.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced three days of mourning after an “abhorrent terrorist attack” carried out by “very professional perpetrators”.
“We will never be intimidated by terrorism and we will fight these attacks decisively and by all means,” he said.
Vienna’s director of public security Franz Ruf said members of the public had provided 20,000 videos to the police for examination. He declined to say whether the attack was motivated by Islamist extremism or anti-Semitism.
“It is clear that he was a radicalized person, beyond that, we cannot say anything since we are still investigating.”
The shooting took place in an area near Schwedenplatz, a popular neighborhood to exit near the Danube Canal which locals refer to as the “Bermuda triangle.” Many of the bars and restaurants were packed with people for one last meal before the Covid-19 shutdown goes into effect today.
On the street where the attack took place is Vienna’s main synagogue. Oskar Deutsch, president of the Vienna Jewish Community, said it was “unclear” whether the synagogue and the Jewish community were targeted. There were no events taking place in the synagogue or the adjoining complex and both were closed.
“The perpetrator did not target the city temple,” said Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister, an eyewitness. He said several gunmen fired at least 100 rounds just outside the synagogue at people sitting on the street.
Images on social media, allegedly of the attack, show a man in a white shirt with a rifle firing a rifle at a building. A male voice can be heard from one of the adjacent buildings yelling “A ** h * le, son of a bitch” at the gunman.
Eyewitnesses were asked to remain inside while the shooting took place.
“We heard the shots and then it was ‘lights out, doors closed,'” a 53-year-old Austrian tourist told the APA news agency. “Then we all fell to the ground, the fear among the guests was crazy.”
Another witness told ORF television that he thought it was the sound of fireworks.
“Then it became clear that it was about shooting,” said the man, who asked not to be identified. “Then there was a man running down Seitenstetten Street who fired around him like crazy with an automatic weapon.”
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer confirmed that police were treating the shootings as a terrorist attack.
“Austria is a democracy, shaped by freedom of expression, tolerance in coexistence,” he said. “Yesterday’s attack is an attack on these values and an inappropriate attempt to divide us. We will not allow this. There will be consequences. “
On Tuesday morning, the police still closed the area around Schwedenplatz with redirected trams and subways.
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