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UPDATE: Four killed in Vienna terror attack

Four people were killed and several injured in a shooting in central Vienna on Monday in what the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called a "repulsive terror attack".

Published: 2 November 2020 21:20 CET
Updated: 3 November 2020 00:35 CET
UPDATE: Four killed in Vienna terror attack
Armed policemen stand out of their car near the State Opera in the center of Vienna on November 2, 2020, following a shooting. AFP

 

Vienna police confirmed that around 8:00pm shots were fired in the Seitenstettengasse area.

They said there were “several perpetrators” with “rifles” and added there were a total “six different shooting locations”.

Police confirmed that one person had been killed and several others injured, including a police officer. 

One of the attackers had also been killed, police said.

The mayor of Vienna then confirmed that a second person had died from the injuries.

 “After this terrible crime… a second woman has died of her injuries,” Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig told public broadcaster ORF.

By Tuesday morning the death toll had risen to four.

 “Sadly a fourth victim has died in a Vienna hospital, this brings the the death toll to two men and two women,” an interior ministry spokesman told AFP.

At 11:20pm Vienna police said their operation was “still active” and urged people to stay home and take shelter and not use public transport.

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said a manhunt was underway across the city and beyond. He called the “attackers heavily armed and dangerous.”

“We have brought several special forces units together that are now searching for the presumed terrorists,” he said. “I am therefor not limiting it to an area of Vienna because these are mobile perpetrators, Nehammer told ORF broadcaster.

Austrian police stand guard as patrons leave the opera in Vienna. Image: Joe Klamar / AFP

A spokesman for Vienna's Health Association confirmed that 15 people had been admitted to medical clinics with serious injuries as a result of the attack.

Later on Monday evening Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described the shooting as a “repulsive terror attack”.

“We are experiencing difficult hours in our republic,” Sebastian Kurz said on Twitter.

“Our police will act decisively against the perpetrators of this repulsive terror attack,” he said, adding that “we will never be intimidated by terrorism and we will fight this attack with all means”.

 

Armed Austrian policemen stop traffic from a pedestrian and shopping area in Vienna on November 2, 2020, after a shooting in the city centre. AFP

AFP

 Social media videos showed police searching the city's streets as well as metros stations and some restaurants.

“It sounded like firecrackers, then we realised it was shots,” said one eyewitness quoted by public broadcaster ORF.

A shooter had “shot wildly with an automatic weapon” before the police arrived and opened fire, the witness added.

Armed police arrive at the first district near the state opera in central Vienna on November 2, 2020, following a shooting. AFP

Videos posted on Twitter that have not been verified showed people injured outside a cafe, whilst others run for cover as police cars head to the area.

One unverified video claimed to show an attacker firing shots in the street with Der Standard newspaper reporting that videos posted to Twitter showed several attackers shooting wildly in the streets.

Police, who pleaded with the public not to post and share videos of the attack tweeted a message saying “shots fired in inner city district – there are persons injured”.

The shooting began just hours before Austria was to re-impose a coronavirus lockdown to try to slow the spread of Covid-19, and bars and restaurants were packed as people enjoyed a final night of relative freedom.

Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told public broadcaster ORF that the incident “appeared to be a terrorist attack” and urged Viennese to remain in their homes.

Nehammer repeated police appeals to residents to keep away from all public places or public transport, and frequent sirens and helicopters could be heard in the city centre as emergency services responded to the incident.

An AFP photographer said that large numbers of police were guarding an area near the city's world-famous opera house.

“There is a large police operation going on in the 1st district of Vienna,” the police tweeted in English.

 

 

It was initially reported that a synagogue near the site of the shootings could have been the target of the attack.

But Oskar Deutsch, the head of the Jewish community in Vienna said on Twitter that it was too early to say whether the synagogue was the target of the shooting.

He said the synagogue was closed at the time of the shooting. He urged members of the Jewish community to stay at home.

Austria had until now been spared the sort of major attacks that have hit other European countries.

World leaders began to react to the shooting with French President Emmanuel Macron one of the first. France has been targetted by terrorists numerous times in recent years including twice in recent weeks.

“We, French, share the shock and sadness of the Austrians after an attack in Vienna,” said Macron in German on Twitter.

“This is our Europe. Our enemies need to know who they are dealing with. We won't give in to anything,” he said.

Czech police said they had started random checks on the border with Austria. 

“Police are carrying out random checks of vehicles and passengers on border crossings with Austria as a preventive measure in relation to the terror attack in Vienna,” Czech police tweeted.

Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said in a tweet Czech police were in touch with Austrian colleagues following the “dreadful news from Vienna”.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also “strongly condemned” the shootings. 

“There is no room for hatred and violence in our common European home,” he said on Twitter in Italian and German.

 

 

 

 

 

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CRIME

Are there ‘young gangs’ forming in Vienna?

If you read Austrian tabloid media, Vienna has a 'gang' problem, with several crimes committed by groups of young people in recent months. But is that true?

Published: 18 April 2024 13:17 CEST
Are there 'young gangs' forming in Vienna?

Austrian tabloid media jumps on such stories: a group of teenage girls breaking into cars in Linz or vandalism and robberies committed by young people in Vienna. Particularly in the capital, it seems that there was a rise in crimes committed by groups of young people. But does that mean that Vienna has a gang problem?

According to the newspaper daily Der Standard, the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate (LPD) repeatedly states that the much-cited youth gangs do not exist but that there is “an increase in young people appearing in groups and committing offences”.  

What does that mean, and what is the difference between “young people appearing in groups and committing offences” and gangs?

According to the police: “The term gang is commonly used in everyday language – without a precise definition in this context. In criminal law, however, the term is clearly defined. From a criminal law perspective, a gang is an organised, hierarchically structured group of people intent on committing offences on an ongoing basis.”

READ ALSO: Which crimes are on the rise in Austria?

According to the police, they are dealing with “groups that come together spontaneously” and are not “hierarchically organised.” These groups mostly commit “thefts or minor robberies” but are not criminal organisations. 

So, technically, Vienna does not have a “youth gang” problem, but it does have an increase in young people in groups committing crimes – though the police didn’t share official numbers.

A recent Kurier report stated that the number of crimes committed by young people and children under the age of 14 has doubled in the last ten years.

At the same time, there has only been a slight increase among young people over the age of 14 and even a decrease among young adults. The main crimes committed by young people and adolescents are theft, damage to property, assault, burglary and dangerous threats.

Christian Holzhacker, Head of Education at the Association of Viennese Youth Centers, told Der Standard that it is important not to “stigmatise” an age group and that the word gang is often used in an “inflationary way”. He points out that in relation to the size of the Viennese population, the number of minors committing crimes is small, even if it is increasing.

He also highlighted that stigmatising regions or groups of young people who get together in public spaces is not the answer. “If you want to fight crime, you have to look at the realities of the lives of the people who have committed crimes,” he said.

READ ALSO: Is Vienna a safe city to visit?

What are the police doing about the crime?

Austria’s federal criminal police office has gathered a new special task force to combat youth crime (EJK). According to the Ministry of the Interior, the idea is to recognise the new phenomenon and combat youth gangs in Austria. 

The task force is set to carry out checks in public spaces, particularly in urban areas and “potential hotspots”, Kurier reported.

The task force also set up a “panel of experts” to suggest how parents can be more responsible, how children’s use of social media and cell phones can be improved, and how the asylum system can better accommodate young migrants.

However, Dieter Csefan, head of the task force, told Die Presse that most young offenders were born in Austria.

“There are unaccompanied minors, but the young people we meet in the groups and gangs usually have parents. And the prolific offenders often come from a normal home. They can also be native Austrians. So it’s not always just Afghans or Syrians”, he said.

He also mentioned that “lowering the age of criminal responsibility is one suggestion” to fight crime. Currently, the age is set at 18, but there are discussions and proposals to lower it to twelve. However, “that alone is not necessarily enough”, he added.

READ NEXT: Which parts of Austria have the highest crime rates?

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