Terrorist attack in Vienna: the police are still looking for the culprits and asking the Austrians to stay at home

Austrian police continue to search for at least one other attacker who participated in the armed attack on restaurant customers and passers-by in the center of Vienna. As a result of the shooting on Monday, November 2, in the evening, four people were killed, 22 were injured, seven of them are in serious condition. More about the incident and the search for the attackers told the publication with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

The police are conducting a special operation and asking residents to avoid public places. One attacker was shot dead by the police, the other was arrested.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called the incident a “disgusting terrorist attack,” and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer urged parents not to send their children to school on Tuesday, November 3.

The first terrorist attack in Austria in many years occurred on the eve of the introduction of quarantine due to the coronavirus: from November 3, bars and restaurants are closed, the country will have a curfew from 20:00 to 6:00.

What happened

The first reports of the shooting appeared around eight pm local time - eyewitnesses reported sounds similar to shots, near the synagogue at Schwedenplatz... Vienna police later confirmed that several malefactors with rifles were seen at six different points near the synagogue, one killed (a suspect in the attack, shot by the police) and several wounded, including one policeman, were confirmed.

Videos posted on social networks show people scattering and sounds like gunshots are heard.

“We heard sounds like firecrackers exploding. There were 20 or 30 of these pops, we thought it was actually gunfire. We saw a policeman on the street next to our restaurant, then an ambulance appeared. There were casualties. Unfortunately, we also saw a body lying on the street,” says an eyewitness to the incident named Chris, who was in the restaurant at the time of the shooting.

Other eyewitnesses say men armed with rifles walked through the city, firing at visitors to bars and restaurants, as well as at bystanders.

Search for attackers

A large-scale anti-terrorist operation is underway in the Austrian capital. Checkpoints have been set up in the city center, and the police are urging people to avoid public places and not use public transport.

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Police are also asking eyewitnesses not to post videos and photos on social media, as this could interfere with the operation and harm civilians.

Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer called the shooting a terrorist attack and confirmed that one of the attackers was killed and at least one more is on the run.

According to the minister, the attackers are well armed and very dangerous, and the number of victims of the attack may not be final; the attacker was well armed - he had a Kalashnikov assault rifle, another pistol and a machete. Nehammer also added that authorities have strengthened border controls.

One of the attackers was a 20-year-old supporter of the Islamic State terrorist group named Fejzulai Kuytim, writes CNN.

Nehammer said the attacker served in prison after being convicted as a teenager of trying to travel to Syria to fight on the side of ISIS.

In April 2019, he was sentenced to 22 months in prison, but released eight months later on December 5.

“This is a terrorist attack. Thank God, we haven’t experienced something like this in Austria for a long time. We believe there were several attackers. “Unfortunately, several people were injured and several people died,” the minister said and urged residents not to leave their homes until further notice. “We have united several units to search for suspected terrorists. “I am not limiting the operation to Vienna because the attackers are mobile.”

The head of the Vienna police department, Gerhard Puerstl, said that law enforcement agencies searched 18 houses and took 14 people into custody.

Wounded and dead

The Vienna ambulance service reported one killed. There is no information about his identity yet. Presumably we are talking about one of the attackers. 22 wounded were delivered to Vienna hospitals, seven of whom received life-threatening injuries.

A passerby was killed as a result of the shooting. One woman who was injured died in hospital. Nehammer confirmed Tuesday morning that two more people, a man and a woman, had died at the hospital. Information about the identities of the dead is not provided.

Who were the attackers

Neither the identity nor the motives of the attackers are known.

The first shots rang out in the synagogue area in the center of Vienna. Jewish community leader Oskar Deutsch tweeted that it was not yet known whether the Vienna synagogue and its surrounding buildings were the real target of the attack, adding that the synagogue itself and other offices were closed at the time anyway.

"Disgusting terrorist attack"

“We are going through a difficult time in our republic. I want to thank the first responders who put their lives on the line to keep us safe, especially today. Our police will take decisive action against those who carried out this heinous terrorist attack,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wrote on Twitter.

The Vienna attack drew condemnation from many world leaders. President of the European Council Charles Michel said that this is a cowardly act that endangers life and belittles the importance of human values.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his country shared the Austrians' shock and grief: “This is our Europe. Our enemies must know who they are dealing with. We won't give up."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the incident a monstrous act and expressed solidarity. The German government has issued a statement stating the need not to succumb to hatred.

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US President Donald Trump condemned the attack in Vienna, calling it another manifestation of terrorism. “The United States stands with Austria, France and all of Europe in the fight against terrorism, in particular radical Islamist terrorism. These types of attacks on innocent people must stop,” he tweeted.

US presidential candidate Joe Biden called the incident a horrific terrorist attack. “We must all stand together against hatred and violence,” he said.

National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said the people of Vienna are in their prayers. “Nothing can justify such hatred and violence. We support Austria, France and all of Europe in the fight against terrorism,” he added.

Attacks in France

French authorities last week raised the country's security threat level following the attack in Nice - armed with a knife killed three churchgoers. France's interior minister said the country is at war with the political ideology of militant Islamism. “We are at war... with an enemy that is both internal and external. This is an ideology because we are not at war with religion. We are at war with ideology, Islamist ideology,” the minister said. President Macron said after the attack in Nice that it was an attack “on our values, on freedom, on the opportunity on our soil to believe freely and not give in to terror.” “I will repeat once again: we will not give up anything,” said the French president.

After the attack in Nice, in a city near Avignon, police officers shot and killed a man who threatened passers-by with firearms; in Lyon, a man was detained with a knife with a blade 30 cm long.

On October 16, France was shocked by the murder of school history teacher Samuel Pati in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Saint-Honorine. Radicalized a young Chechen cut off his head for showing his disciples cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which became the reason for the attack on the editorial staff of the magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 and sparked a worldwide debate on freedom of speech.

The assassination exacerbated tensions in France, and President Macron's public speech in defense of free speech and the right to publish such cartoons angered Turkey and other Muslim countries.

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