VIENNA: Gunmen fired shots at six locations in central Vienna starting near the central synagogue on Monday (Nov 2), killing at least two people - including one attacker - and wounding others in what Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described as a "repulsive terror attack".
A manhunt is under way for several suspected perpetrators Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said are "heavily armed and dangerous".
"We have brought several special forces units together that are now searching for the presumed terrorists. I am therefore not limiting it to an area of Vienna because these are mobile perpetrators," Nehammer told broadcaster ORF, urging the public to stay indoors until the all-clear is given.
Police said there was "one deceased person" and several injured, including one police officer.
Meanwhile, one suspect had been "shot and killed by police officers", Vienna police said on their Twitter account.
The attack had been carried out by "several suspects armed with rifles", and police added that there had been "six different shooting locations".
Gunshots were fired at around 8pm, beginning at the Seitenstettengasse in the city's centrally located first district.
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.
Nehammer told ORF that the attack was carried out in the immediate vicinity of the street housing the central synagogue.
"At the moment I can confirm we believe this is an apparent terror attack," he said.
"We believe there are several perpetrators. Unfortunately there are also several injured, probably also dead."
Frequent sirens could be heard in central Vienna as emergency services responded to the incident.
ORF reported that 15 people were being treated for injuries in Vienna hospitals, and that seven were in serious condition.
Authorities gave no indication of the identity of the assailants or reason for the attack.
The president of Vienna's Jewish community Oskar Deutsch said that shots had been fired "in the immediate vicinity" of the Stadttempel synagogue but added that it was currently unknown whether the synagogue itself had been the target of an attack.
He said that the synagogue and office buildings at the same address had been closed at the time of the attack.
"It sounded like firecrackers, then we realised it was shots," said one eyewitness quoted by ORF.
A shooter had "shot wildly with an automatic weapon" before the police arrived and opened fire, the witness added.
Videos circulated on social media of a gunman running down a cobblestone street shooting and shouting. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.
In 1981, two people were killed and 18 people were injured during an attack by two Palestinians at the same synagogue. In 1985, a Palestinian extremist group attacked Vienna airport with hand grenades and attack rifles, killing three civilians.
In August, authorities arrested a 31-year-old Syrian refugees suspected of trying to attack a Jewish community leader in the country's second city Graz. The leader was unhurt.
'COWARDLY ACT'
Austria had until now been spared the sort of major attacks that have hit other European countries.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that "we French share the shock and sorrow of the Austrian people".
"After France, it's a friendly nation that has been attacked," he added, referring to the killing on Thursday of three people by a knife-armed attacker in southern city Nice and the beheading of a schoolteacher by a suspected extremist outside Paris several days before.
EU Council chief Charles Michel tweeted that the bloc "strongly condemns this cowardly act".
And Germany's foreign ministry tweeted that the reports from Austria were "horrifying and disturbing".
"We can't give in to hatred that is aimed at dividing our societies," the ministry added.
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.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC92aWVubmEtYXVzdHJpYS10ZXJyb3ItYXR0YWNrLXR3by1kZWFkLW1hbmh1bnQtZ3VubWVuLTEzNDQ2Nzg20gEA?oc=5
2020-11-02 23:03:45Z
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