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Ed Vienna terrorist[?] attack[s] of 02NOV2020

catsmate

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I see no other thread so.....

At about 8PM (IST) something, or probably several somethings, happened in Vienna. It appears to be a terrorist attack involving multiple attackers and locations with at least one person dead so far.

Current official sources state:
"A number" of persons armed with rifles launched the assault in six locations.
"A number" of people, including passers-by, have been taken to hospital with several reported to be seriously injured.
One of the injured is a police officer. [Others say he is dead]
The incident began at the Seitenstettengasse synagogue (the main synagogue in Vienna) in central Vienna.
Assistance is being offered by other countries.
The Czech Republic has implemented additional border controls along the border with Austria.


The rumours.
Seven to nine are dead, including a police officer.
There have been bomb explosions, believed to be suicide vests.
 
Very fog of war right now, so hard to say anything.

But late night on a monday is a strange time for an organized terror attack. The synagogue, if it was the target, was locked and empty. Witnesses say they shot into the bars on the street, not the synagogue. One person said over 100 shots were fired.

I could come up with a couple of theories, but if the reports of a man with a suicide belt is true, it really does narrow it down.
 
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Ryokan said:
Very fog of war right now, so hard to say anything.

But it's late night on a monday is a strange time for an organized terror attack. The synagogue, if it was the target, was locked and empty. Witnesses say they shot into the bars on the street, not the synagogue. One person said over 100 shots were fired.

I could come up with a couple of theories, but if the reports of a man with a suicide belt is true, it really does narrow it down.
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The country goes into COVID lockdown tomorrow, that may have triggered matters.

Ryokan said:
Unless, of course, a synagogue being on that street was incidental.
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Possibly.
 
So far so much "official" silence that even the local anti-immigration activists admit that they know next to nothing (I checked their live stream right now). A press conference is scheduled for in 15 minutes.

Apparently one of the men is dead, one is arrested, and at least four are still on the run. Several severely injured victims including a policeman, one to three dead.

indications point to Islamists. It doesn't seem like the (closed) Synagoge was at the core of this event.
 
I don't know if this was the "press conference", but chancellor Kurz was interviewed on Austrian TV right now and said nothing about any background.

Apparently six people with automatic rifles at six places in the city of Vienna started shooting random people and caused ... 3 deaths and 15 injured. :confused:

Kurz sends in the military to "protect buildings" so that the police can hunt the bad guys. Everybody has to stay where they are, should go to bed and watch the news after they wake up. The live stream ends as well while I am writing. Talking about a sealed lockdown.
 
It's starting to look like it was one guy, who was shot and killed by police.

The "six places in the city" looks like it's turning out to be more like "six bars/establishments on the same street that were shot into by the gunman during his rampage".

Police are still open to the possibility of more suspects, but at this point things seem to be settling around a single perpetrator.
 
NYT: Vienna Shooting Live Updates: Terrorist Attack in Austria Leaves 3 Dead and Many Wounded
Here’s what you need to know:
The slain gunman was an ISIS ‘sympathizer,’ an official says.
As the immediate danger passed, the city stayed on edge.
With the target unclear, the authorities discouraged speculation.
A mild evening out, and then gunfire.
Witnesses posted dramatic videos of the attack....

At least 15 people were wounded in the attack and were being treated in hospitals, according to the spokesman for the hospital association. At least seven were wounded seriously, according to Vienna’s mayor.
Click to expand...
 
Vienna is traditionally a city with a very large Jewish population and many of the restaurants nearby the synagogue are Kosher, so it's fair to say it is a targetted attack because of the expected demography of shooting randomly in nearby bars and restuarants.

Given there were fifty ambulances reportedly on the scene and the nature of the assault rifle attack, I'd say it was a miracle only four people were killed. Unless of course there is a news blackout for the moment until next of kin are informed.
 
The timing of the attack was opportune in that Austria is going into Lockdown today, so yesterday, lots of people made use of their last time to eat out in a while.

But politically, the impact would have been ever greater if it had happened before the recent elections, which was devastating to the far-right.
 
Updated news is that the 'lone wolf' gunman was a 22-year-old of North Macedonian parentage (an offshoot of the former Yugoslavia, bounded inland by Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece, with Turkish as a key language, together with the above ethnic language groups, and including Romani. So he was radicalised in Europe, went to fight in Syria, was convicted of this as a juvenile.

Little wonder he didn't seem very experienced in shooting effectively, having visited six locations, killed four and wounded seven. A small mercy it wasn't dozens more.

Fejzulai was born and raised in Vienna and was one of 90 Austrian Islamic radicals known to intelligence because they wanted to travel to Syria, one national newspaper editor tweeted this morning.

He had Albanian roots and his parents were originally from North Macedonia, Falter editor Florian Kenk wrote. Police thought he was not capable of planning an attack in Vienna, Klenk added.

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer admitted the attacker had 'fooled' the judiciary's de-radicalisation programme.
Click to expand...
 
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