2020 Vienna Terror Attacks

[Mick West]

The 2020 Vienna attacks is a series of ongoing terrorist incidents,[1] involving multiple gunmen, across six locations in Vienna, the capital of Austria, on 2 November 2020, All Souls' Day. Several people were killed[2] including one of the perpetrators,[3] and several more injured,[4] with one of them reportedly being a police officer.

The attacks began at around 20:00 local time, in Schwedenplatz, Vienna, Austria, when an armed man started shooting. The shooting took place hours before the midnight start of a nationwide lockdown as new COVID-19 restrictions came into force in Austria on Monday, including a curfew from midnight to 06:00 local time.[5] Several shots were fired.

There were reports of other perpetrators on the run.[6] At least eight people died in the shooting, including one perpetrator.[7] Local newspaper Kurier reported that an attacker had taken random shots at people sitting outside cafes and bars on Judengasse and Seitenstettengasse in central Vienna.[5] The police confirmed that there are six different shooting locations.[8]

Initial reports indicated that Vienna's main synagogue, the nearby Stadttempel, could have been the target of the attack.[5] According to Oskar Deutsch [de], the head of the Jewish Community of Vienna, at the time of the shooting, the synagogue was already closed before the shooting took place. A guard was critically injured outside the synagogue. However, the attackers targeted multiple places.[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Vienna_attacks

Very much an ongoing situation. City-wide curfew, the military deployed. Videos show attackers running through the streets shooting random people. I think the death toll is likely to rise.

[Edit: Updated the Wikipedia quote, as initial casualty estimates are unconfirmed]

 

[Mendel]

So far, 2 deaths confirmed, according to https://www.rtf1.de/news.php?id=27389 ; and 15 people injured.
As long as they haven't caught all of the perpetrators, who knows.

Article:

Die Attentäter von Wien haben sich wohl nach Vorbild des Pariser Anschlags im Jahr 2015 als Ziel einen Ausgeh-Hotspot ausgesucht. Die Terror-Attacke nahm laut Innenminister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) ihren Ausgang in der Seitenstettengasse. Dort befindet sich nicht nur die jüdische Synagoge, die ebenfalls Ziel gewesen sein könnte, sondern auch das sogenannte Bermuda-Dreick, ein alt gedientes Lokalviertel in der Wiener Innenstadt.

[..] Angesichts der milden Temperaturen und der morgen coronabedingt startenden Gastrosperre war die Gegend, in der sich Lokal an Lokal reiht, auch an einem Montagabend belebt.

Source: https://www.vienna.at/schuesse-am-wiener-schwedenplatz-grosseinsatz-der-polizei/6795256

Possibly inspired by the Parisian attack in 2015, the shooters targetted a bar district. According to the secretary of justice, the terror attack startet in the Seitenstettengasse. The Jewish synagogue is situated there, which might have been a target, but also the "Bermuda Triangle", a historic bar quarter in the city center of Vienna.

Because of the moderate temperatures and the restaurant lockdown starting tomorrow, the area with one bar next to the other was full of life this Monday night.

 

[Mendel]

Official word as of 30 minutes ago:

Article:

23.45 Uhr: Die Polizei sucht nach dem mutmaßlichen Terroranschlag in Wien weiterhin nach Tatverdächtigen. "Wir sind nach wie vor im Kampf gegen die mutmaßlichen Terroristen", sagte Innenminister Karl Nehammer am späten Montagabend im ORF. Er gehe von mehreren schwer bewaffneten Tätern aus. Der Minister appellierte erneut an die Bürger, öffentliche Plätze zu meiden. Nach einer vorläufigen Bilanz wurden bei den Schusswechseln in der Wiener Innenstadt ein Angreifer und ein Passant getötet. Außerdem wurden nach Angaben der Rettungsdienste 15 Menschen teils schwer verletzt. Die Polizei sprach von sechs Tatorten.

Source: https://www.focus.de/panorama/welt/grosseinsatz-der-polizei-offenbar-schuesse-vor-synagoge-in-wien-gefallen_id_12613442.html

The minister of the Interior says: several heavily armed perpetrators, one of the attackers and a bystander killed, 15 people injured (hospitalized), some seriously; 6 attack sites.

 

[Mendel]

The situation this morning, from the sources I linked above:
-- 3 more victims died overnight, bringing the confirmed death toll to 5 (including the perpetrator who was shot)
-- 15 people were injured
-- public transport is available again
-- children don't have to go to school today
-- alleged explosives belt turned out to be a mockup
-- some perpetrators still believed to be on the loose

Article:

Ausgangspunkt Seitenstettengasse und weitere fünf Orte
Der Anschlag am Montagabend in Wien hat gegen 20.00 Uhr in der Seitenstettengasse mitten in der Innenstadt seinen Anfang genommen. Dort fielen erste Schüsse, in unmittelbarer Nähe der Synagoge. In einem "zeitlichen Zusammenhang", so die Polizei, gab es dann Vorfälle an weiteren fünf Innenstadtorten, alle in räumlicher Nähe zum Ausgangspunkt.

Die weiteren Orte waren nach Angaben von Harald Sörös, Sprecher des Innenministeriums, der Morzinplatz, das Salzgries, der Fleischmarkt, der Bauernmarkt und der Graben. Die Anzahl der Verletzten habe sich seit 22.00 Uhr nicht mehr erhöht, sagte unterdessen der Sprecher des Wiener Gesundheitsverbunds, Christoph Mierau, auf APA-Anfrage: 15 Verletzte würden in Spitälern der Bundeshauptstadt versorgt, sieben davon seien schwer verletzt.

Source: https://www.vienna.at/schuesse-am-wiener-schwedenplatz-grosseinsatz-der-polizei/6795256

The attack started at around 8 pm in the Seitenstettengasse in the city center. The first shots were fired next to the synagogue. "In a temporal sequence" there were incidents at 5 other places close by in the city center: Morzinplatz, Salzgries, Fleischmarkt, Bauernmarkt, Graben. The health services said that the number of injured stopped rising after 10 pm, with 15 people hospitalized, 7 of these severely injured [critical condition].

Article:

06.06 Uhr: "Der Terrorist war ein Sympathisant der Terrormiliz IS", sagte Österreichs Innenminister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) bei einer Pressekonferenz.

Source: https://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/terroranschlag-in-wien-terrorist-war-is-sympathisant-ein-wien-attentaeter-getoetet_id_12613442.html

"The [dead] terrorist was an IS sympathizer", said Austria's minister of the interior Karl Nehammer (ÖVP party) at a press conference.

There were rumors of a hostage situation last night; that has not been confirmed.

 

[Mendel]

Article:

Derzeit gehen die Behörden davon aus, dass es in dieser Zeit an sechs Orten zu Schusswechseln kam. Sieben Polizisten machten von ihren Dienstwaffen Gebrauch.

[..]

Die Polizei war mit 250 Kräften zweier Spezialeinheiten im Einsatz und riegelte die Gegend um die Tatorte weiträumig ab. Hinzu kamen mehrere hundert Polizisten. Auch Soldaten kamen zum Einsatz, die den gesamten Objektschutz in Wien übernahmen, um die Polizei zu entlasten. Auch an den Grenzen in Österreich wurden die Kontrollen verstärkt.

Die Verletzten, die sich derzeit im Krankenhaus befinden, weisen Schuss- und Stichverletzungen auf.

Source: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/terror-in-wien-anschlag-in-oesterreich-was-wir-wissen-und-was-nicht/26584332.html

Official sources say that shots were fired in 6 different locations. 7 police used their weapons. The police deployed 250 personnel from two special units and closed off the area around the shooting sites. Hundreds of regular police were also active. Soldiers were deployed to protect buildings [government etc.] to relieve police. Border controls were reinforced as well.
The injured have been treated for bullet wounds and stab wounds.

It's still unclear how many perpetrators were involved; possibly up to four individuals.

 

[Trailblazer]

It appears now that there was only one attacker. Social media last night was full of criticism of traditional news sources for being slow to report, but in the rush to be first, amid the confusion, it appears the reports of a widespread co-ordinated attack with multiple perpetrators may have been exaggerated.

 

[Mick West]

It appears now that there was only one attacker. Social media last night was full of criticism of traditional news sources for being slow to report, but in the rush to be first, amid the confusion, it appears the reports of a widespread co-ordinated attack with multiple perpetrators may have been exaggerated.

You often get reports of "a second gunman" in mass-casualty shootings. But that was rather more than normal. I think the "six locations" somehow transformed into "six shootings" and then "six shooters".

They have detained 14 people in raids, which are probably people they had been watching before.

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/1103/1175589-vienna-austria-attack/

Austrian police have arrested 14 people in raids linked to the deadly attack in Vienna and found no evidence that a second gunman was involved.

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said: "There have been 18 raids in Vienna and Lower Austria and 14 people have been detained."

He added that police believe that yesterday's shooting in central Vienna was carried out by a lone gunman, Kujtim Fejzulai, a 20-year-old Islamic State sympathizer who was killed by police last night.

Mr Nehammer said the video material evaluated by the police "does not at this time show any evidence of a second attacker."

 

[Trailblazer]

You often get reports of "a second gunman" in mass-casualty shootings. But that was rather more than normal. I think the "six locations" somehow transformed into "six shootings" and then "six shooters".

The multiple locations all appear to have been very close together so probably were places targeted in the single attack. (If the timeline being reported now is correct then the attack lasted no more than about 10 minutes in total).

There were also multiple reports of a shooting and/or hostages being taken at the Hilton hotel, which the hotel chain quickly denied:
Source: https://twitter.com/HiltonNewsroom/status/1323396924158976000

 

[Mendel]

Fog of war, yes.

The 20-year-old perpetrator was born in Austria, his parents were immigrants.
He had been jailed because he'd attempted to join ISIS, undergone a deradicalisation program, and was deemed to be no longer dangerous.

The attack reminded me of the 10/2019 attack in Halle/Germany by a right-wing extremist ("Neonazi"), which underscores that extremism of any kind is bad, as is politically motivated violence, no matter which side you're on.