Hunt for gunman after Vienna ‘terror attack’ leaves 4 dead
- Special forces hunt at least one attacker after one suspect was killed
- The location of the initial shooting was close to a major synagogue
A huge manhunt was under way on Tuesday after gunmen opened fire at multiple locations across central Vienna, killing at least four people and wounding several more in what Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described as a “repulsive terror attack”.
One of the suspected killers, identified as an Islamic State group sympathiser, was shot dead by police who said they were searching for at least one more assailant still at large. The dead male attacker was wearing an explosives belt that turned out to be fake.
The attacks, in six locations including near a synagogue in the centre of the city, were carried out by “several suspects armed with rifles”, police said on Monday night.
The shooting began just hours before Austria was to reimpose a coronavirus lockdown, with people out in bars and restaurants enjoying a final night of relative freedom.
The death toll rose on Tuesday to four people, two male and two female civilians in addition to the attacker who was shot dead.
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Police hunt ‘armed and dangerous’ gunmen after Vienna ‘terror attack’ kills at least 2, injures 15
Vienna mayor Michael Ludwig earlier said that 15 people had been taken to hospital, seven of them seriously wounded.