Vienna terrorist attack: ‘ISIS sympathizer’ kills two in Austria terror attack
03 November, 2020
An ISIS sympathiser and accomplices opened fire at six sites in central Vienna on Monday night, killing at least two persons and wounding 15 others among the suspects was also killed.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described the incident as a "repulsive terror attack".
“They seem to also, so far as we know, be perfectly equipped, with automatic weapons. So these were perfectly prepared.”
Several attackers were still at large as police shut down and blocked off large parts of the town centre in a manhunt, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said.
Among the gunmen was killed by police and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer described the person as "Islamist terrorist" and ISIS sympathiser even while authorities declined to give information on the other suspects.
The attacks, in six spots including near a synagogue at the heart of town, were completed by "several suspects armed with rifles", police said.
Police said one person had died, with public broadcaster ORF stating the individual was a passer-by.
Vienna mayor Michael Ludwig later told ORF that a second person had died of her injuries, and that 15 persons had been taken up to hospital, seven of these seriously wounded.
All the locations where in fact the attacks occurred were in the vicinity of a street housing the city's main synagogue.
The attack was first reported at the city's Seitenstettengasse synagogue about 8pm local time.
An officer guarding the building was injured, newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported.
As well as the gunmen shot dead by police, authorities said these were hunting for at least yet another assailant still most importantly.
"According from what we currently know, at least one perpetrator continues to be on the run," Mr Nehammer said.
"We have brought several special forces units together that are actually searching for the presumed terrorists. I am therefore not limiting it to a location of Vienna, because they are mobile perpetrators," Mr Nehammer earlier told ORF.
Mr Kurz said the army would protect sites in the capital so the police could focus on anti-terror operations. Speaking to ORF, he said the attackers "were perfectly equipped with automatic weapons" and had "prepared professionally".
Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister told London's LBC radio he was living in the compound of the synagogue. "Upon hearing shots, we looked down (from) the windows and saw the gunmen shooting at the guests of the various bars and pubs," he said.
"The gunmen were running around and shooting at least 100 rounds or higher before our building," he said.
Border checks were being reinforced, the Interior Ministry said, and children would not be asked to attend school on Tuesday. Although people were urged to remain indoors Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig told broadcaster ORF metropolis would run normally on Tuesday, albeit with a tougher police presence.
Footage on social media shows persons fleeing the scene as emergency services arrived. Other footage, which has not been verified showed gunman running down a street shooting at people.
“There are various injured persons,” police tweeted. “We are on site with all available forces. Please avoid all public squares in the city.”
The attack happened hours before the city was due to get into a partial lockdown to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Police said trams and buses weren't stopping at the heart of metropolis and urged social media users never to post footage of the attack online while the investigation was continuing.
Authorities blocked roads around the location centre.
Jewish community leader Oskar Deutsch said on Twitter that it was unclear if the Seitenstettengasse synagogue was hit in the attack because it was closed at that time.
"It sounded like firecrackers, then we realised it was shots," said one witness quoted by public broadcaster ORF.
Mr Deutsch told the Kurier newspaper that no members of Vienna’s Jewish community were injured in the attack.
Former FBI agent Ali Soufan said on Twitter the incident had "the sign of an ISIS terror attack".
"It seems just like a Paris-style procedure committed by numerous attackers at multiple location," Mr Soufan said.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that "we French share the shock and sorrow of the Austrian people".
He described the killing on Thursday of three persons by a knife-wielding attacker in the southern city of Nice and the beheading of a schoolteacher by an extremist outside Paris days before.
“That is our Europe,” he added. “Our enemies got to know with whom they are dealing. We won't retreat.”
EU Council chief Charles Michel tweeted that the bloc "strongly condemns this cowardly act".
Czech police said that they had started random checks on the border with Austria.
"Police are undertaking random checks of vehicles and passengers on border crossings with Austria as a preventive measure with regards to the terror attack in Vienna," Czech police tweeted.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also "strongly condemned" the violence.
"There is absolutely no room for hatred and violence inside our common European home," Mr Conte said on Twitter.
US President Donald Trump tweeted that the attacks "evil" and "another vile act or terrorism in Europe".
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
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