Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

US Supreme Court Lifts Order That Blocked Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs

13 hours ago

Trump to Attend Club World Cup Final, FIFA Opens Office in Trump Tower

14 hours ago

Trump Says Pharmaceutical Tariffs Could Reach 200%

14 hours ago

Rescue Teams Find Three More Bodies After Central Texas Floods

14 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rigoberto Simental Aguilar

14 hours ago

Trump Says He Is Not Happy With Russia’s Putin, Considering Sanctions

14 hours ago

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to Be Sentenced on October 3

14 hours ago

Israeli Military Says It Struck Key Hamas Figure in Lebanon’s Tripoli

15 hours ago

Madera County Sheriff Logs 29 Fire-Related Calls on Fourth of July, Most in 5 Years

15 hours ago

Trump Says He May Take Over Governance of Washington, DC

15 hours ago
Gunman Who Killed 4 in Vienna Attack Had Sought to Join IS
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
November 3, 2020

Share

VIENNA — A man who had previously tried to join the Islamic State group rampaged in Vienna armed with an automatic rifle and a fake explosive vest, fatally shooting four people before he was killed by police, Austrian authorities said Tuesday.

Witnesses described dozens of screaming people fleeing the sounds of gunshots Monday night in a nightlife district crowded with revelers enjoying the last hours before a coronavirus lockdown.

Others barricaded themselves inside restaurants for hours until they were sure the danger had passed. Video that appeared to be from the scene showed a gunman, dressed in white coveralls, firing off bursts seemingly at random as he ran down the Austrian capital’s dark cobblestone streets.

While the attack lasted just minutes, authorities said only on Tuesday afternoon that there was no indication of a second attacker — adding to tension in the capital as residents were urged to stay home.

Two men and two women died from their injuries in the attack. Authorities said a police officer who tried to get in the way of the attacker was shot and wounded, along with 21 other people.

The suspect was identified as a 20-year-old Austrian-North Macedonian dual citizen with a previous terror conviction for attempting to join the Islamic State group in Syria. Police searched 18 properties as well as the suspect’s apartment, detaining 14 people associated with the assailant who are being questioned, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said.

“Yesterday’s attack was clearly an Islamist terror attack,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said. “It was an attack out of hatred — hatred for our fundamental values, hatred for our way of life, hatred for our democracy in which all people have equal rights and dignity.”

The attacker, identified as Kujtim Fejzulai, was armed with a fake explosive vest, an automatic rifle, a handgun and a machete, according to Nehammer. Before the attack he posted a photograph on a social media account showing him posing with the rifle and machete, Nehammer said.

Fejzulai was sentenced to 22 months in prison in April 2019 but was granted early release in December.

Authorities Worked Well Into Tuesday to Determine Whether There Were Any Other Attackers

“The fact is that the terrorist managed to deceive the judicial system’s deradicalization program” to secure his release, Nehammer said, adding that the system should be reevaluated.

He also said that an attempt to strip the suspect of his Austrian citizenship had failed for lack of enough evidence. In North Macedonia, Interior Ministry spokesman Toni Angelovski said authorities there would cooperate with Austrian police.

Fejzulai’s lawyer in the 2019 case, Nikolaus Rast, told public broadcaster ORF that his client had seemed “completely harmless” at the time.

“He was a young man who was searching for his place in society, who apparently went to the wrong mosque, ended up in the wrong circles,” Rast said.

Fejzulai’s family “wasn’t strictly religious at all; the family wasn’t radical,” Rast added. “I still remember that the family couldn’t believe what had happened with their son.”

Authorities worked well into Tuesday to determine whether there were any other attackers, with some 1,000 police officers on duty in the city. People in Vienna were urged to stay at home if possible on Tuesday, and children did not have to go to school.

By mid-afternoon, investigators sifting through copious video evidence had found “no indication of a second perpetrator,” Nehammer said. “But because the evaluation is not yet concluded, we cannot yet say conclusively how many perpetrators are responsible for the crime.”

For the time being, an elevated security level will remain in place in Vienna along with a reinforced police presence, he said. The country held a minute of silence at midday Tuesday, accompanied by the tolling of bells in the capital, and the government ordered three days of official mourning, with flags on public buildings to be flown at half-staff.

Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister Said He Saw at Least One Person Shoot at People Sitting Outside

The shooting began shortly after 8 p.m. Monday near Vienna’s main synagogue as many people were enjoying a last night of open restaurants and bars before a monthlong coronavirus lockdown, which started at midnight.

Nine minutes later, it was over, Nehammer said.

Alois Schroll, an Austrian lawmaker and the mayor of the town of Ybbs, said he had just arrived at a nearby restaurant when the shooting began. He said he “saw many, many people running with their hands up high, they were in a panic and screaming.”

Police “sealed off the entire restaurant,” Schroll, 52, told The Associated Press. “People inside the restaurant were in shock, there were several women who were crying. And it wasn’t until shortly before 1 a.m., that police finally let us out of the restaurant.”

Schroll said he wasn’t allowed back to his apartment because the area was still blocked off — and so he spent hours wandering the streets.

Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister said he saw at least one person shoot at people sitting outside at bars in the street below his window near the city’s main synagogue.

“They were shooting at least 100 rounds just outside our building,” Hofmeister said.

The attack drew swift condemnation and assurances of support from leaders around Europe, including from French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has experienced three terror attacks in recent weeks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. U.S. President Donald Trump also condemned “yet another vile act of terrorism in Europe.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Union Files Ethics Complaint After College Chancellor’s ‘Goddaughter’ Receives $161K In Contracts

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect Tied to 2 Shootings, Firearm Recovered

DON'T MISS

Are Former Measure C Execs Pushing Their Own Ballot Measure?

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Near New Cuyama Grows to 80,615 Acres, 35% Contained

DON'T MISS

US Justice Department Scrambles to Defend Its About-Face on Release of Epstein Files

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Lifts Order That Blocked Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs

DON'T MISS

Trump to Attend Club World Cup Final, FIFA Opens Office in Trump Tower

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Pharmaceutical Tariffs Could Reach 200%

DON'T MISS

Rescue Teams Find Three More Bodies After Central Texas Floods

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rigoberto Simental Aguilar

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Is Not Happy With Russia’s Putin, Considering Sanctions

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Says It Struck Key Hamas Figure in Lebanon’s Tripoli

UP NEXT

Gaza Ceasefire Can Be Reached but May Take More Time, Israeli Officials Say

UP NEXT

UN Passes Climate Change Motion After Marshall Islands Drops Fossil Fuels Focus

UP NEXT

Rescuers Scour Flood Debris in Texas as Hope Fades for Survivors

UP NEXT

Gazans Reject Trump’s Displacement Plan Despite Death and Destruction

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Official Says Iran Hit Some Military Sites Last Month

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Meets Trump at White House as Israel, Hamas Discuss Ceasefire

UP NEXT

US Veterans Affairs Will Cut Nearly 30,000 Jobs, Far Fewer Than Planned

Are Former Measure C Execs Pushing Their Own Ballot Measure?

11 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Near New Cuyama Grows to 80,615 Acres, 35% Contained

12 hours ago

US Justice Department Scrambles to Defend Its About-Face on Release of Epstein Files

12 hours ago

US Supreme Court Lifts Order That Blocked Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs

13 hours ago

Trump to Attend Club World Cup Final, FIFA Opens Office in Trump Tower

14 hours ago

Trump Says Pharmaceutical Tariffs Could Reach 200%

14 hours ago

Rescue Teams Find Three More Bodies After Central Texas Floods

14 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rigoberto Simental Aguilar

14 hours ago

Trump Says He Is Not Happy With Russia’s Putin, Considering Sanctions

14 hours ago

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to Be Sentenced on October 3

14 hours ago

Fresno Woman Sentenced to Prison for DUI Crash That Killed One, Injured Three

A 23-year-old Fresno woman was sentenced Tuesday to more than a decade in state prison for a 2021 drunk driving crash that killed one passen...

9 hours ago

9 hours ago

Fresno Woman Sentenced to Prison for DUI Crash That Killed One, Injured Three

10 hours ago

Union Files Ethics Complaint After College Chancellor’s ‘Goddaughter’ Receives $161K In Contracts

Jershawn Worthy was identified as the suspect in two Fresno shootings and is now facing multiple firearm-related charges. (Fresno PD)
10 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect Tied to 2 Shootings, Firearm Recovered

11 hours ago

Are Former Measure C Execs Pushing Their Own Ballot Measure?

The Madre Fire near New Cuyama has burned more than 80,615 acres, injured one firefighter, and prompted multiple evacuation orders as crews work to contain the growing wildfire. (CalFire)
12 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Near New Cuyama Grows to 80,615 Acres, 35% Contained

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
12 hours ago

US Justice Department Scrambles to Defend Its About-Face on Release of Epstein Files

A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2024. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

US Supreme Court Lifts Order That Blocked Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs

President Donald Trump holds the key to the FIFA Club World Cup trophy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025. (Reuters File)
14 hours ago

Trump to Attend Club World Cup Final, FIFA Opens Office in Trump Tower

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend