Police were on Tuesday hunting gunmen believed to have been involved in attacks that left four people dead and injured at least 14 in downtown Vienna, Austria.
One suspect armed with an assault rifle and handguns and wearing a dummy explosive vest was also killed in the Monday evening incident, officials said.
The Interior Ministry identified the suspect who was killed as Fejzulai Kujtim, 20. He had North Macedonian roots and a criminal record for affiliation with a terrorist organization, officials said.
According to Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, the suspect was a sympathizer of the Islamic State group.
“Several” arrests had also been made and a few apartments searched, Vienna Police spokesperson Paul Eidenberger told NBC News.
Kujtim was shot and killed by officers on Monday evening. Police said they have searched his apartment though did not give details of what they found. Officials are also combing through CCTV footage of the event.
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Austrian Interior Ministry spokesperson Harald Sörös said that investigators are looking at the possibility that there were up to four individuals involved in the attack given that there were six shooting locations. However, he stressed that there was no hard evidence to suggest there were indeed four perpetrators.
The shooting took place on the last night before Austria’s second coronavirus lockdown was set to begin, restricting access to non-essential businesses until the end of November.
Shlomo Hofmeister, a rabbi in Vienna, said he witnessed the attack from his home in the lively city center, which is full of bars and restaurants and also home to the main synagogue.
“I saw a man heavily armed with a long weapon standing right below my window shooting at the crowds. He was shooting at where the crowds were sitting,” he said.
When police arrived at the scene, Hofmeister said they called out looking for people who were injured. He said he heard people shouting from inside bars and restaurants that they had been hurt.
Austria held a minute of silence at noon (6 a.m. ET) to remember the victims of the attack. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted Tuesday that 14 people had been severely injured in the attack and a law enforcement officer had been shot.
The attack took place just days after an attack on a church in Nice, France, that killed three people. Authorities believe a 21-year-old Tunisian national who entered France in early October began stabbing people after he entered the Notre Dame basilica Thursday morning.
The incident in Nice is being investigated as a suspected terror attack.
The Austrian government on Tuesday ordered three days of official mourning, with flags on public buildings to be flown at half-staff until Thursday, the APA reported. A minute of silence was to be held at noon Tuesday.
Leaders from around the world sent condolences to Austria, including President Donald Trump.
“Our prayers are with the people of Vienna after yet another vile act of terrorism in Europe,” the president wrote on Twitter.