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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 of the perpetrators was shot, others may continue to flee.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz participates in a commemorative event in Vienna the day after the attack. EPA / CHRISTIAN BRUNA
On Tuesday morning, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that he would fight terrorism by all possible means. “It is a struggle between civilization and barbarism.” The night before, at least one perpetrator fired at six locations in the center of Vienna, killing at least four people. Seventeen wounded lay in the hospital with gunshot wounds that night, seven of them seriously wounded. Among them is a police officer who is still in mortal danger. One of the perpetrators was shot dead by the officers. According to previous information, the victims include two men and two women.
“We will never forget the victims and together we will resolutely uphold basic values,” said Kurz militant. The attack was an attack on free society, “it was actually directed at all of us.” At the same time, he warned against generalizations. “This is not a dispute between Christians and Muslims, between Austrians and migrants,” clarified the chancellor. The enemy are only terrorists and extremists.
Large-scale police operation
In the morning, there was still a large-scale deployment of heavily armed police officers that had spread from Schwedenplatz on the Danube Canal to various parts of the city the night before. Authorities have not yet ruled out that other perpetrators are on the way.
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
In a morning press conference, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer confirmed that the murdered perpetrator had sympathized with the IS terrorist organization. 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 are now taking place in the perpetrator’s environment.
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
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 team asked medical personnel to be ready for special operations. Dozens of ambulances were used, including from neighboring Lower Austria.
Special units of the police take positions near the temple of the Jewish city of Vienna.
It seems likely that the perpetrator or perpetrators consciously 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 could still leave. 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 under the command of 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 synagogue in Seitenstettengasse. Two people died and 18 were injured. The terrorist attack with the highest death toll to date occurred on December 27, 1985 at Vienna’s Schwechat Airport at the counter of the Israeli airline El Al. Four people were killed and 39 injured.
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