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Two people were arrested near Vienna, according to the APA news agency, as police pursued accomplices of a gunman or gunmen who killed four people in what the government called an Islamist terror attack in the Austrian capital.
At a televised press conference in the early morning, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer repeated calls on the public to stay off the streets.
Nehammer said police had shot and killed an attacker Monday night, a man wearing an explosives belt that turned out to be a fake. Authorities identified him as a sympathizer of the Islamic State. Authorities and witnesses could not immediately rule out the possibility that there were other armed men.
Police confirmed Tuesday that three civilians, two men and one woman, were killed and at least 15 others were injured, including a police officer. National broadcaster ORF later said that a fourth civilian, a woman, had died.
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Police officers stand guard after gunfire in Vienna REUTERS / Leonhard Foeger
REUTERS
The APA quoted police as saying that two arrests had been made in the nearby town of St Poelten. The Kurier news site reported that heavily armed police officers had searched two properties.
Witnesses had described crowds being shot in bars with automatic rifles Monday night, as many people took advantage of a final night before the start of the coronavirus curfew across the country.
Six locations in central Vienna were attacked, starting outside the main synagogue, which was closed.
A witness, Vienna Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister, said he couldn’t be sure if there was more than one shooter.
“I saw a person. Later, I watched videos and I’m not sure it’s the same person. It’s very difficult for me to identify someone in a split second,” Hofmeister told Reuters television.
“At the time I didn’t pay attention to his appearance either. I was trying to understand what was going on. Then I turned away from the window and called the police.”
Nehammer, the interior minister, said: “We experienced an attack last night by at least one Islamist terrorist, a situation that we have not had to experience in Austria for decades.”
Seven of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, the APA news agency said.
A police spokesman said at least 1,000 officers were involved in the search.
The government announced three days of national mourning and a minute of silence at noon.
The editor of the Vienna Falter newspaper, Florian Klenk, tweeted that the dead assailant was a 20-year-old man born in Austria to ethnic Albanian parents from North Macedonia, and known to national intelligence agencies as one of the 90 Austrian Islamists. who intended to travel to Syria. Klenk did not provide a source for his information.
Nehammer said that video footage had been seized from the home of the known assailant and that police were investigating his possible connections.
The APA reported that several houses had been searched and arrests made, citing the Interior Ministry. A ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The Vienna police chief declined to provide further details on the identity of the known attacker, saying it could jeopardize the investigation.
Police sealed off much of the city’s historic center overnight, urging the public to take refuge where they were. Many sought refuge in bars and hotels, while public transport in the area was closed.
Oskar Deutsch, head of Vienna’s Jewish community, which has offices next to the synagogue on a narrow cobbled street dotted with bars, tweeted that it was unclear whether the synagogue or the offices had been a target.
Videos of an armed man running down a cobbled street, shooting and screaming, circulated on social media. One showed a man shooting a person outside what appeared to be a bar on the street where the synagogue is located.
Vienna has escaped the kind of attacks by deadly militants that have hit Paris, London, Berlin, and Brussels, among others, in recent years.
Condolences came from leaders around the world. US President Donald Trump tweeted that “our prayers are with the people of Vienna after another vile act of terrorism in Europe.”
“These evil attacks on innocent people must stop. The United States supports Austria, France and all of Europe in the fight against terrorists, including radical Islamic terrorists.”
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden condemned what he called a “terrible terrorist attack,” adding: “We must all stand together against hate and violence.”
Reuters
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