Vienna, Nov 2,2020: At least one person was killed and at least 15 others – including at least one police officer – were seriously injured in exchanges of gunfire in central Vienna that Austria’s interior minister described as a terror attack.
One attacker was shot dead after incidents at six locations close to Seitenstettengasse street in the heart of the Austrian capital, a spokesperson for Vienna’s police force told broadcaster ORF.
The local APA news agency reported that a bystander had also been shot dead.
“At the moment I can confirm we believe this is an apparent terror attack,” Karl Nehammer, the interior minister, told ORF.
He said the attacks were thought to have been carrried out by several people with long guns, adding there were likely to be more casualties.
“We believe there are several perpetrators. Unfortunately there are also several injured, probably also dead,” he said.
A total of 15 people were being treated for injuries in local hospitals late on November 2, a spokesperson for the Vienna hospital association told ORF. Seven victims were reported to be critical condition.
“Shots fired in the Inner City district – there are persons injured – KEEP AWAY from all public places or public transport,” police had tweeted.
“There are several injured persons,” they added. “We are on site with all available forces. Please avoid all public squares in the city.”
Earlier reports had suggested that the nearby Stadttempel synagogue could have been the target of the attack.
But Oskar Deutsch, president of the Jewish Community Vienna, said the synagogue on Seitenstettengasse and the office building at the same address were already closed at the time of the attack, and it was “unclear” if it was one of the targets of the attack.
Deutsch told the Kurier newspaper that no members of Vienna’s Jewish community were among those injured in the attack.
Citing an interview with a rabbi living directly above the Stadttempel synagogue, newspaper Kurier reported an attacker had taken random shots at people sitting outside cafes and bars on Judengasse and Seitenstettengasse in central Vienna. “He did not aim at the Stadttempel [synagogue]”, the witness said.
ORF cited witnesses as saying that several shots were fired shortly after 8pm local time . The police operation was taking place in the centre of Vienna, close to the Danube river.
New coronavirus restrictions came into force in Austria on November 2, including a curfew from 8pm to 6am.
Police repeatedly appealed for witnesses to refrain from sharing photographs or video from the scene after footage which appeared to show an injured policeman was briefly posted on Twitter.
source: The Guardian