Horror in Vienna: the latest events

After the terrorist attack in Vienna, the Austrian security forces show their presence.

Lisi Niesner / Reuters

The latest developments

• Police officers and intelligence agencies carried out around 60 raids in four Austrian federal states. The action was directed against individuals and associations that allegedly support the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. This is what the Austrian daily “Der Standard” wrote on Monday (November 9) in relation to the Graz prosecutor. More than 70 suspects are being investigated, 60 apartments, houses, businesses and club premises were searched. 30 people were arrested and must be brought before the authorities “for immediate questioning.” However, according to the prosecutor and the Interior Ministry, there is no connection between the terrorist attack and the raid. This has been planned for a long time.
• Austrian prisons are carrying out greater control in prisons. 229 inmates who are in custody for crimes of terrorism or who showed tendencies to radicalization were reviewed, the Ministry of Justice reported on Saturday. In addition, 168 cells and 30 factories were registered. According to the ministry, 12 prisons have reported findings. To a large extent, documents were discovered that are now being reviewed for possible extremist antecedents.
• On Friday morning (6 November), German police officers searched several apartments and workplaces in Osnabrück, Kassel and in the Pinneberg district in connection with investigations into the terrorist attack in Vienna. The Federal Criminal Police Office reports this. According to the current status of the investigation, there are no suspicions of involvement in the attack against the four affected people. However, it is said that they had connections to the alleged killer.
• In the run-up to the terrorist attack, information from the Slovak authorities on possible plans of attack was ignored. The latest murderer was detected by the Slovak police while trying to buy ammunition. According to an internal letter from the criminal agency located in the Slovak Interior Ministry, available to the APA news agency, the authorities informed their Austrian colleagues on July 23. Austrian police responded on September 10 and identified one of the two potential buyers as the subsequent killer with a criminal record for terrorism. It is unclear what happened after that. Karl Nehammer announced on Wednesday (November 4) in Vienna the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry. The interior minister admitted that “obviously some things went wrong.”
• The Austrian Parliament will hold a special session on Thursday (November 5). Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer and Justice Minister Alma Zadič want to make statements. An independent commission of inquiry is to be set up in Vienna due to possible mishaps in the run-up to the attack.

On Monday night (November 2) around 8 pm, a young man in the center of Vienna started randomly shooting passersby. Four bystanders and the attacker died and 22 people were admitted to hospitals, some with serious injuries.

According to the police, there were six different crime scenes. Several perpetrators with assault rifles participated in the attack. So far, nothing is known about the whereabouts of other possible attackers.

The first shots were fired near the main synagogue in a Vienna nightlife district, a few hours before the start of the partial closure in Austria. The restaurants in district 1, the area around the main synagogue Seitenstettengasse, the farmers market, the meat market, Morzinplatz, Salzgries and Graben were well attended. According to the police, the first shots were fired at Seitenstettengasse. The synagogue is also there.

In one Vienna Police Tweet It was said that among the seriously injured was a policeman guarding the synagogue.

Authorities were aware of the attacker who was shot by police. The 20-year-old Austrian had roots in North Macedonia and had a criminal record for belonging to a terrorist organization. According to the Interior Ministry, he had planned to travel to Syria in the past to join the IS terrorist militia. He was prevented from doing so and was instead sentenced in April 2019 to 22 months in prison for belonging to a terrorist organization.

Last December, he was “released early on a conditional basis” because he was considered a young adult and was therefore subject to the privileges of the Juvenile Court Act. His attorney at the time said the young man came from a perfectly normal family. But he made the wrong friends and went radical. His supervisor in Derad’s deradicalization program noticed him because of his extreme piety.

Even before the crime, the killer posted a photo of the guns on Facebook. These include a Kalashnikov with a shortened barrel, an assault rifle, a pistol, and a machete. He also used a simulated explosives belt during the assassination attempt. Slovak police also saw him before the attacks when he was trying to buy ammunition.

It is not clear if the murdered shooter had accomplices. There is currently no indication of a second perpetrator, Interior Minister Nehammer said on Tuesday afternoon (November 3). The investigations are in full swing. It is clear that 18 house searches were carried out in the early hours of the morning after the attack. Police temporarily arrested 14 people. They all come from the perpetrator’s environment.

The young man opened fire at 8 pm on Monday night. Nine minutes later he was neutralized by a special unit. After the attack, the Viennese made around 20,000 cell phone videos available to the police. Interior Minister Nehammer thanked two Austrians with immigration backgrounds for their cooperation and especially for the rescue of an injured police officer.

The fatal victims, in addition to the murderer, are two men and two women. Among the dead is a 24-year-old German student who worked as a waitress. Another victim, like the perpetrator’s family, comes from North Macedonia. The 20-year-old was also a member of the Albanian minority in North Macedonia and had graduated from high school in Austria. No further details are currently known about the individuals.

The FDFA shipping department announced on Wednesday (November 4) that a Swiss woman was slightly injured.

Canton Zurich police arrested an 18-year-old Swiss and a 24-year-old Swiss on Tuesday afternoon (November 3) in Winterthur in connection with the terrorist attack in Vienna. To report

The two Swiss were known to the police and security authorities and are involved in criminal proceedings in the field of terrorism. The Federal Police Office has confirmed this. The criminal proceedings opened in 2018 and 2019 are still ongoing, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office specified the next day.

The alleged perpetrator in Vienna and the two people arrested in Zurich knew each other. His relationship and connection to Switzerland are currently being clarified.

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told the media that the terrorist attack had exposed a flaw in the system. The fact that the perpetrator has been prematurely released from custody shows that in the future action must be taken with greater clarity and force against radicalized violent criminals. Therefore, Nehammer calls for an evaluation of the system and an optimization of the judiciary. The young man went through a program of de-radicalization of Islamists and, according to Nehammer, managed to deceive the specialists and thus obtain a speedy release.

Speculation that the attack was targeting the Jewish city temple at Seitenstettengasse could not be substantiated. Oskar Deutsch, president of the Israelite Religious Community in Austria, said the synagogue was closed at the time of the attack and there were no casualties there. All parishioners were asked to stay home. For security reasons, all synagogues, Jewish schools and the institutions of the Israeli religious community, kosher restaurants and supermarkets were closed on Tuesday (November 3).

Even the Viennese municipal rabbi does not assume an anti-Semitic motive. Schlomo Hofmeister does not believe that the attack was directed at Jews. “That was an anti-human motivation. I don’t think the man made a difference who he shot, ”Hofmeister told ORF on Tuesday (November 3). Hofmeister was nearby at the time of the crime and witnessed the attack.

Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen strongly condemned the terrorist attack and assured the victims of his support. “We are all deeply affected,” the head of state said on Monday night (November 2) on Twitter. Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz condemned the attack as a “disgusting terrorist attack”, while also warning of a division in society. This is not a dispute between Christians and Muslims or between Austrians and migrants, he said on Tuesday (Nov. 3) in a televised address to the nation. Rather, it is a struggle between the many people who believed in peace and the few who wanted war.

Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga condemned the act on behalf of Switzerland. On Tuesday (November 3) he asked for solidarity with Austria and France in a message sent via Twitter. Switzerland strongly condemns all forms of terrorism and violence. His thoughts are with the victims and their families. “Our democratic and constitutional values ​​of freedom and tolerance are our bulwark against barbarism.” The president of the National Council Isabelle Moret (fdp., Vaud) and the president of the Council of States Hans Stöckli (Bern, sp.) Also expressed their solidarity and sympathy with the victims and their families in a joint tweet.

Also, leading politicians around the world were concerned. “After another heinous terrorist act in Europe, our prayers go out to the people of Vienna,” US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter. His Democratic challenger Joe Biden tweeted that he and his wife Jill were praying for the victims and their families after the terrible terrorist attack in Vienna. “We must all stand united against hatred and violence,” he added. In the United States, a new president will be elected on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also condemned the terrorist attack as a “brutal and cynical crime.” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin wrote on Twitter Tuesday: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Austrians as we follow with concern last night’s despicable terrorist attack in Vienna.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged his full solidarity with Austria.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter in German: “After France, it is a friendly country that is under attack. This is our Europe. Our enemies need to know who they are dealing with. We will give up on nothing. ”There have been three attacks in France in recent weeks, each of the investigators assuming an Islamist background.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made the following statement: “We Germans support our Austrian friends with sympathy and solidarity. Islamist terror is our common enemy. The fight against these murderers and their instigators is our common fight. ”