Vienna synagogue shooting: 7 dead, more injured in 'suicide attack'

At least seven people are thought to have been killed with several others injured in multiple gun and suspected suicide attacks near a synagogue in Vienna.

A huge manhunt is currently underway for several attackers armed with rifles with police confirming shootings at six different locations, starting near the synagogue at 8pm local time. 

One attacker is thought to have ‘blown themselves up’ during the rampage with another arrested and one shot dead by police. A police officer is also thought to have been shot and seriously injured.  

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told Austrian broadcaster ORF: ‘At the moment I can confirm we believe this is an apparent terror attack.’ 

He added that the attack was believed to have been carried out by several people and that all six locations were in the immediate vicinity of the street housing the central synagogue. 

The rampage comes on the last evening before Austria goes into lockdown, with bars and restaurants in the country closed from midnight tonight.  

Shocking footage showing a man carrying an assault rifle and sprinting through the streets of Vienna and firing off shots was shared on social media, though it is unclear if he is the gunman behind the attack. More distressing footage appears to show the moment a man is shot by the attacker. 

Police urged people to avoid all open spaces and public transport in the city. Police said trams and buses were not stopping and urged social media users not to post videos of the police operation, so as not to endanger officers. 

A man carrying an assault rifle and believed to be the gunman who carried out the rampage in Vienna on Monday evening

A man carrying an assault rifle and believed to be the gunman who carried out the rampage in Vienna on Monday evening

A photo shared on social media purportedly showing some of the suspects behind the rampage being arrested by police officers

A photo shared on social media purportedly showing some of the suspects behind the rampage being arrested by police officers

A photo shared on social media purportedly showing some of the suspects behind the rampage being arrested by police officers

Although yet to be confirmed, this is thought to be a photo taken near the scene of where the shots rang out

Although yet to be confirmed, this is thought to be a photo taken near the scene of where the shots rang out

Women run away from the first district near the state opera, central Vienna as shots ring out following several attacks in the city

Women run away from the first district near the state opera, central Vienna as shots ring out following several attacks in the city

Police control a person as they patrol in central Vienna on November 2, 2020, following a shooting near a synagogue

Police control a person as they patrol in central Vienna on November 2, 2020, following a shooting near a synagogue

Armed policemen stand witha a dog near the State Opera in the center of Vienna this evening while the manhunt continues

Armed policemen stand witha a dog near the State Opera in the center of Vienna this evening while the manhunt continues

Austrian police men search two civilians, not thought to be behind the attack, as part of the manhunt following the shootings

Austrian police men search two civilians, not thought to be behind the attack, as part of the manhunt following the shootings

A heavily armed policeman stands guard at Schwedenplatz place in the center of Vienna on November 2 following a shooting in the city center

A heavily armed policeman stands guard at Schwedenplatz place in the center of Vienna on November 2 following a shooting in the city center

Oskar Deutsch, the head of the Jewish community in Vienna, said the shooting took place in the street where the city’s main synagogue is located but that it wasn’t clear whether the house of worship had been targeted.

The synagogue was already closed at the time of the shooting, Deutsch tweeted. A neighbouring restaurant was also closed. 

Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister said he saw at least one person fire shots at people sitting outside bars in the street below his window.

‘They were shooting at least 100 rounds just outside our building,’ Hofmeister said.

‘All these bars have tables outside. This evening is the last evening before the lockdown,’ he added. ‘As of midnight, all bars and restaurants will be closed in Austria for the next month and a lot of people probably wanted to use that evening to be able to go out.’

Footage believed to be taken near the scene showed people ducking and weaving as they run for cover, with shots ringing out. 

One attacker was ‘dead’ and another ‘on the run’, while one police officer had been seriously injured, Austria’s interior ministry said according to news agency APA 

The rampage comes on the last evening before Austria goes into lockdown, with bars and restaurants in the country closed from midnight tonight

The rampage comes on the last evening before Austria goes into lockdown, with bars and restaurants in the country closed from midnight tonight

Austria's top security official said authorities believe there were several attackers involved and the incident was ongoing

Austria’s top security official said authorities believe there were several attackers involved and the incident was ongoing

One attacker was 'dead' and another 'on the run', with one police officer being seriously injured. Police later confirmed there were several attackers

One attacker was ‘dead’ and another ‘on the run’, with one police officer being seriously injured. Police later confirmed there were several attackers

Police urged people to avoid all open spaces and public transport in the city. Police said trams and buses were not stopping and urged social media users not to post videos of the police operation

Police urged people to avoid all open spaces and public transport in the city. Police said trams and buses were not stopping and urged social media users not to post videos of the police operation

An Austrian policeman overlooks an area in Vienna after a shooting in the city centre. Multiple gunshots were fired in central Vienna on Monday evening, police said, while media reported that there had been an attack close to a synagogue

An Austrian policeman overlooks an area in Vienna after a shooting in the city centre. Multiple gunshots were fired in central Vienna on Monday evening, police said, while media reported that there had been an attack close to a synagogue

Police block a street near Schwedenplatz square after a shooting in Vienna, Austria this evening, with at least one person dead

Police block a street near Schwedenplatz square after a shooting in Vienna, Austria this evening, with at least one person dead 

Armed police officers walk through the streets of Vienna after this evening's attack, with a manhunt said to be underway

Armed police officers walk through the streets of Vienna after this evening’s attack, with a manhunt said to be underway

Shocking footage believed to be taken near the scene showing people ducking and weaving as they run for cover, with shots ringing out

Shocking footage believed to be taken near the scene showing people ducking and weaving as they run for cover, with shots ringing out

Austrian journalist Thomas Mayar, citing the Ministry of the Interior, said: ‘One dead and several injured in an attack on the synagogue in Seitenstettengasse in the center of Vienna, says the Ministry of the Interior. Large-scale police operation. 

‘Stay in the houses. Shots on Schwedenplatz.’ 

Austrian public broadcaster ORF cited witnesses saying several shots were fired shortly after 7pm. 

Another Austrian newspaper reported that the attack was on the street that houses the city’s main synagogue.   

Vienna Police tweeted: ‘Around #InnnerenStadt there were several exchanges of fire. There are several injured people. We are on duty with all possible forces. Please avoid all public places in the city.’  

The attack comes just four days after a knife-wielding Tunisian man beheaded a woman and killed two other people in Nice, France before being shot by police. 

Brahim Aoussaoui, 21, allegedly beheaded Nadine Devillers, 60, slit the throat of sexton Vincent Loques, 55, and stabbed mother-of-three Simone Barreto Silva, 44, to death in the horrifying attack.

Timeline of terror: How Europe has been decimated by extremist attacks in recent years  

Oct. 29, 2020 – A knife-wielding Tunisian man beheads a woman and kills two other people in a church in the French city of Nice before being shot and taken away by police.

Oct. 16, 2020 – French school teacher Samuel Paty is beheaded in a Paris suburb. Paty had shown his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression. Police shot dead the 18-year-old attacker of Chechen origin.

Nov. 29, 2019 – British police shoot dead a man wearing a fake suicide vest who stabbed two people to death in London and wounded three more before being wrestled to the ground by bystanders, in what the authorities called a terrorist attack.

April 7, 2018 – A man drives a van into a group of people sitting outside a restaurant in the old city centre of Muenster in Germany, killing several of them before taking his own life, police say.

March 23, 2018 – A gunman kills three people in southwestern France after holding up a car, firing on police and taking hostages in a supermarket. Security forces storm the building and kill him.

Aug. 17, 2017 – A van ploughs into crowds in the heart of Barcelona, killing at least 13 people, a regional official says, in what police said they were treating as a terrorist attack.

June 3, 2017 – Three attackers ram a van into pedestrians on London Bridge then stab revellers in nearby bars, killing eight people and injuring at least 48. Islamic State says its militants are responsible.

May 22, 2017 – A suicide bomber kills 22 children and adults and wounds 59 at a packed concert hall in the English city of Manchester, as crowds begin to leave a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande.

April 7, 2017 – A truck drives into a crowd on a shopping street and crashes into a department store in central Stockholm, killing five people and wounding 15 in what police call a terrorist attack.

March 22, 2017 – An attacker stabs a policeman near the British parliament in London after a car ploughs into pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge. Six people die, including the assailant and the policeman, and at least 20 are injured in what police call a ‘marauding terrorist attack’.

Dec. 19, 2016 – A truck ploughs into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says authorities are assuming it was a terrorist attack.

July 26, 2016 – Two attackers kill a priest with a blade and seriously wound another hostage in a church in northern France before being shot dead by French police. French President Francois Hollande says the two hostage-takers had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

July 22, 2016 – An 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman apparently acting alone kills at least nine people in Munich. The teenager had no Islamist ties but was obsessed with mass killings. The attack was carried out on the fifth anniversary of twin attacks by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik that killed 77 people.

July 14, 2016 – A gunman drives a heavy truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring scores more in an attack claimed by Islamic State. The attacker is identified as a Tunisian-born Frenchman.

March 22, 2016 – Three Islamic State suicide bombers, all Belgian nationals, blow themselves up at Brussels airport and in a metro train in the Belgian capital, killing 32 people. Police find links with attacks in Paris the previous November.

Nov. 13, 2015 – Paris is rocked by multiple, near simultaneous gun-and-bomb attacks on entertainment sites around the city, in which 130 people die and 368 are wounded. Islamic State claims responsibility. Two of the 10 known perpetrators were Belgian citizens and three others were French.  

source: dailymail.co.uk