On the evening of Monday 2 November in Vienna, as people enjoyed their last night of freedom before the start of the country’s new Covid-19 lockdown, at least one attacker – armed with an automatic rifle and a fake explosive vest – tore through the streets of the capital city. Four civilians died in the shooting, which has since been described as a “repulsive terror attack” in a tweet by the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz.
The interior minister, Karl Nehammer, said overnight that one of the alleged gunmen, who was killed by police on the scene, held dual Macedonian-Austrian citizenship and was sympathetic to the Islamic State (Isis). The suspect was jailed in April 2019 for attempting to travel to Syria to join Isis, though he was released last December, according to Nehammer. Gudrun Harrer, an Austrian journalist, wrote in Der Standard that Monday’s shooter(s) may have been rushed into action by the impending lockdown, announced on 31 October.
Content from our partners
