A HUGE 1,000-PERSON manhunt is underway to find several "armed and dangerous" ISIS gunmen after a massacre near a synagogue in Vienna.
Austria's public broadcaster, ORF, cited witnesses saying several shots were fired shortly after 8pm (7pm GMT) in the centre of the capital.
Four people were killed and 17 people injured as a result of the attacks, which took place at six different locations near the Stadttempel synagogue.
One police officer was also shot and injured. Several perpetrators are said to be at large and on the run, according to the Austrian Interior Ministrty.
A gunman named as Kurtin S armed with an assault rifle and wearing a fake bomb vest was shot dead following the rampage.
Prior to the massacre Kurtin S announced his attack on Instagram and pledged allegiance to ISIS. He is understood to be a 20-year-old dual citizen of Austria and North Macedonia who'd previously been jailed for trying to travel to Syria.
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WAITRESS, PASSER-BY AND ELDERLY COUPLE VICTIMS OF THE ATTACK
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the four who died were an elderly woman, an elderly man, a young male passer-by and a waitress.
Witnesses described how the gunmen had opened fire on people outside bars and chased them as they fled inside.
It was clearly an attack driven by “hatred of our way of life, our democracy”, the chancellor said. He earlier spoke of a “repulsive terror attack”.
The nation was engaged not in a battle between Christians and Muslims, he stressed, but “between civilisation and barbarism”.
HIGH ALERT IN VIENNA
Military police guard the building of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the city centre the day after a deadly shooting spree in Vienna.
VIENNA ATTACKER WAS NEUTRALISED WITHIN NINE MINUTES
The man who killed four people and injured 22 others during an attack in Vienna was neutralised by armed police within nine minutes, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The attack began around 8 pm local time (1900 GMT) on Monday.
Officers from a specialist unit were called to the scene and ended the incident by shooting the man dead by 8.09 pm, Nehammer said.
Without their rapid intervention, the incident could have been even worse, he said.
BORIS JOHNSON VOICES SHOCK AT DEADLY TERROR ATTACKS IN VIENNA
The Prime Minister has expressed his deep shock at the “terrible attacks” in Vienna which have left three people dead and several injured.
Police in the Austrian capital said the attack was considered to have an Islamist motive, with a suspect – who was shot dead by police – armed with an assault rifle, carrying other handguns, and wearing a fake explosive belt.
Shots were fired at six different locations in the city centre on Monday evening and two men and one woman were killed.
Authorities are looking to determine if other attackers may be on the run.
Both Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted to express solidarity with Austria after the deadly attack.
Mr Johnson said: “I am deeply shocked by the terrible attacks in Vienna tonight. The UK's thoughts are with the people of Austria – we stand united with you against terror.”
PRESIDENT MACRON SHOWS HIS RESPECTS
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, has been welcomed by Deputy Head of Mission at the Austrian embassy Wolfgang Wagner, right, as he arrives to sign a condolence book for victims of the Vienna attack, in Paris, France.
1,000 PERSON MANHUNT
At least 1,000 police officers are now part of a massive manhunt to search for any accomplices – or other gunmen – who may have aided Fejzulai.
Some 15 houses have been searched in the hunt.
It remains unclear how many gunmen launched the hour-long onslaught near Vienna’s main synagogue on the Seitenstettengasse.
SECURITY AROUND THE CEREMONY
Policemen secure the area prior to a ceremony to pay homage to the victims of the shooting in Vienna.
MAP: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
- “Several gunmen” attacked six locations across Vienna's city centre
- Four dead – two women and two men
- 17 injured – seven including a police officer are fighting for life
- One gunman shot dead as at 1,000 police are hunting for at least one other attacker
- Gunman reportedly pledged his allegiance to ISIS and announced the attack on Instagram
- Two Turkish MMA fighters carried a woman and an injured cop to safety
CHANCELLOR LIGHTS A CANDLE
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz places a candle at a crime scene as he pays his respects to the victims of the shooting on November 3, 2020, one day after the shooting at multiple locations across central Vienna.
PICTURED: THE TERRORIST SHOT DEAD
A terrorist shot dead in Vienna after opening fire on drinkers near a synagogue had announced his attack on Instagram and pledged allegiance to ISIS.
The gunman – named as Kurtin S – is understood to be a 20-year-old dual citizen of Austrian and North Macedonian who had previously been jailed for trying to travel to Syria.
The Austrian government confirmed that the suspected Vienna attacker had previously been sentenced to 22 months in prison in April 2019.
PAY TRIBUTES
A wreath is carried to the the scene in Vienna, Austria, this morning.
HEROES IN VIENNA
Amid the violence there was also heroes – with MMA fighters Recep Tayyip Gultekin and Mikail Ozer stepping in to help an injured cop and an elderly woman.
The pair ran in the direction of danger after hearing shots and saw the gunman.
Recep tried to carry an injured woman to safety and ended up getting shot – but initially didn't got to hospital as he “didn't want to be a burden”.
He told Turkish news channel Ahaber: “When I turned around, the terrorist took cover at me, we came eye to eye while shooting, and the moment I met that eye, there was no fear or doubt in me.
“There, with the reflex given to me by my brain, I rolled on the ground and ran, zigzag running and ran downstairs and went to the police building and told about what happened.”
BLOODSHED ACROSS EUROPE
Officers put up road blocks checking all cars and taxis to leaving the city, and security was beefed up at other Jewish sites.
The murders followed outrage at cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which has seen a spate of bloodshed in Europe.
Bild reports one of the jihadis sent a video of the attack on the magazine's offices in 2015 to one of his accomplices.
He also posed on Instagram with an assault rifle, pistol and machete.
It comes after ISIS called on jihadis to “spill the blood of Crusaders” in “revenge” for the cartoons of Mohammed.
VIENNA SHOOTING: WHAT HAPPENED
Gunfire erupted just after 8pm local time on Monday – when the city centre was bustling on the last night pubs and cafes were open before a new Covid lockdown starting at midnight.
Disturbing video emerged online apparently showing the moment the first victim was gunned down at random close to the Stadttempel synagogue.
A gunman in light clothing is seen marauding up the cobbled street carrying a long firearm before unleashing a hail of bullets at the young man, who is pinned to a shop window in fear.
The killer jogs past him as he collapses to the ground – then callously turns back and shoots him again with a pistol.
KIDS OFF SCHOOL FOLLOWING VIENNA SHOOTING
People in Vienna were urged to stay at home if possible on Tuesday and children did not have to go to school.
Austria's chancellor condemned it as a “hideous terrorist attack” as officials ordered residents to stay indoors.
SEVEN VICTIMS IN CRITICAL CONDITION
Austrian news agency APA reports a number of arrests have been made in connection to the rampage.
Four civilians – two women and two men – were killed in the violence, and one police officer was critically injured in a shootout with the terrorists.
Seven victims of the attack in Vienna are in a critical, life-threatening condition.
DEAD GUNMAN NAMED BY LOCAL MEDIA
The dead gunman was named as Kurtin S, according to the editor of the weekly Falter newspaper Florian Klenk, a 20-year-old who was known to domestic intelligence.
He was flagged to security services as one of 90 Austrian Islamists who wanted to travel to Syria, but police thought he was not capable of planning an attack in Vienna.
“We experienced an attack yesterday evening from at least one Islamist terrorist,” Mr Nehammer said.
SUSPECT IS 'ISIS SYMPATHISER'
Austria's interior minister Karl Nehammer described the dead suspect as an “ISIS sympathiser” and said the manhunt was continuing to find any other accomplices.
Special forces from neighbouring countries were deployed to help in the operation and the suspect's home had been searched and videos had been seized.
One of the suspects is said to have announced the attack on Instagram and pledged allegiance to ISIS leader “The Professor” Abdullah Qardash, reports Bild.
1,000 PEOPLE STAGING MANHUNT
At least 1,000 police are now staging a massive manhunt after “several” suspected extremists opened fire near a synagogue and busy restaurants at six sites in the Austrian capital.
A gunman opened fire on drinkers sitting in beer gardens near Vienna’s main synagogue on the Seitenstettengasse last night.
The next hour saw violence and bloodshed as police deployed every cop they could to at least six crime scenes.
The sun rose over a shocked Vienna as police attempt to piece together what happened and track down the rest of the attackers.
IN PICTURES: POLICE GUARD THE VIENNA STATE OPERA
CHILDREN WILL BE KEPT HOME FROM SCHOOL
The Austrian Government has warned all residents In Vienna to stay indoors following the ongoing manhunt for suspected gunmen after a shooting rampage in the city centre.
As such the government has said all schools will remain closed in the area today (Tuesday, 3 November).
ITALIAN PM CONDEMNS VIENNA SHOOTINGS
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte “strongly condemned” the shootings in Vienna on Monday in which at least two people including one attacker died and several more were injured.
“There is no room for hatred and violence in our common European home,” he said on Twitter in Italian and German.
Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio also tweeted that “Europe must react” following the “cowardly attack”.
POLICE SEAL OFF CENTRAL VIENNA AS MANHUNT FOR ATTACKERS AT LARGE CONTINUES
Several “heavily armed and dangerous” attackers were still on the loose following tonight;'s shootings.
Police shut down and sealed off large parts of central Vienna as they launched a manhunt to find the perpetrators.
FIFTEEN PEOPLE IN HOSPITAL, SEVEN OF THOSE SERIOUSLY INJURED – VIENNA MAYOR
The Mayor of Vienna has said that fifteen people have been hospitalised as a result of tonight's shootings, according to Vienna’s mayor.
Michael Ludwig said seven of those people have suffered serious injuries.
It comes after reports detailing the number of casualties remained largely unconfirmed.
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2020-11-03 15:01:00Z
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