A 24-year-old Viennese man told police he is an acquaintance of the victim and said that he fled in panic and called an ambulance from his mobile phone after the shooting – which happened on the corner of Yppengasse and Payergasse.
Witnesses reported seeing three men arguing at around 4:00 am on Sunday morning. A 44-year-old Croatian man is thought to have fired a gun several times, injuring the Serbian.
The 24-year-old told police that he and the victim were on Yppenplatz together when they bumped into the 44-year-old suspect and began arguing about “a trivial matter”, police spokeswoman Michaela Rossmann told Radio Wien.
The Croatian suspect was arrested on Yppenplatz shortly after the shooting and gave up his weapon when the police arrived. Police said he did not have a permit for the pistol. It’s unclear what the motive for the shooting was.