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Shots were fired at various locations in Vienna’s city center on Monday night. So far, four deaths and more than a dozen injured have been confirmed. One perpetrator was shot, at least one other apparently still on the run.
Special police units take position near the temple of the Jewish city of Vienna
The Austrian capital experienced a terrorist attack for the first time in many decades. According to the police, there were exchanges of gunfire at six crime scenes on Monday night in central Vienna. Authorities initially confirmed four dead and 17 wounded with gunshot wounds, six of them with serious injuries. Among them is a police officer who is still in mortal danger.
One of the perpetrators was shot dead by officials. According to previous information, the victims of the offenders include two men and two women. One of them worked as a waitress in a downtown restaurant.
We will maintain public safety in Vienna with all available forces. At the same time, we are working hard on education d. attack today. We will continue to post secure information here. # 0211w
– VIENNA POLICE (@LPDWien) November 3, 2020
A large-scale deployment of heavily armed police officers lasted late into the night and spread from Schwedenplatz on the Danube canal to various parts of the city. According to the authorities, one or more perpetrators are still armed and moving around the city.
In an early morning press conference, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer confirmed that the killer was sympathetic to the terrorist organization IS. He was armed with an assault rifle and wore an explosive belt, which later turned out to be a mannequin. The police blew up his apartment and searched him. Intensive investigations would now take place into the perpetrator, whose identity the police did not reveal.
The police blocked Schwedenplatz in Vienna.
Speculation that the attack was targeting the Jewish city temple at Seitenstettengasse could not be substantiated for the time being. Oskar Deutsch, the president of the Israelite religious community in Austria, simply confirmed that all parishioners had been asked to stay home. The synagogue was already closed at the time of the shooting and there were no casualties.
Various crime scenes
Shortly before midnight, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz spoke and expressed his condolences to the victims. “Our police will take decisive action against the perpetrators of this horrible terrorist attack,” he wrote on Twitter. “We will defend our freedom and democracy together and resolutely by all means,” announced Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.
We are going through difficult times in our republic. I would like to thank all the emergency services who are risking their lives for our safety, especially today. Our police will take decisive action against the perpetrators of this horrific terrorist attack.
– Sebastián Kurz (@sebastiankurz) November 2, 2020
According to the mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig, the perpetrators fired savagely with rifles. They also killed a passerby and seriously wounded an officer guarding the synagogue. Most of the other injured people were obviously sitting in the many street bars around the temple known as the “Bermuda Triangle.” The Morzinplatz, the farmers market, the meat market, the Graben and the Salzgries were the other crime scenes.
The police cordoned off the city center with 1000 officers largely, several public transport stations were closed. Journalists speak of people who fled in panic over the shooting. Sirens could be heard everywhere.
A spokesman for the Vienna Rescue Service asked medical personnel to be ready for special operations, as the health system may not be temporarily able to guarantee supply due to Corona. Dozens of ambulances were used, including from neighboring Lower Austria.
It seems likely that the perpetrators deliberately chose the time, as Monday’s unusually warm night was the last time before the crown-related lockdown that took effect at midnight, in which the Viennese were still allowed out. Consequently, restaurants and cultural institutions were well packed. Thousands of people were trapped in the city center until late at night because the police did not let them out on the streets. They were not allowed to return home until the early hours of the morning.
Terror in the past
French President Macron, whose country was also recently hit by attacks, said they shared the shock and sadness of the Viennese. Unlike other European metropolises, Vienna has escaped attacks in recent decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, there was a wave of attacks: in 1975 a terrorist squad led by Ramírez Sánchez Illich, alias “Carlos”, took dozens of hostages in the OPEC building. A policeman was shot and the terrorists received safe conduct.
In 1981, a Vienna city councilor was assassinated and the Palestinian group Abu Nidal attacked Jews in front of the Seitenstettengasse synagogue. Two people died and 18 were injured. The deadliest terrorist attack to date occurred on December 27, 1985 at Vienna’s Schwechat Airport at the counter of the Israeli airline El Al. Four people died and 39 were injured.
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