A Syrian assylum seeker killed one person and injured five others in knife attack on Saturday was inspired by ISIS, officials said. The incident took place in the centre of the town of Villach. The suspect was arrested at the scene, the New York Times reported.
Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner, asserted that the Syrian man had become radicalized online. The police said they believed that the victims were chosen randomly.
Citing the Interior ministry, the New York Times said that the suspect is 23 years old, came to Austria from Syria in 2020 and was later given asylum, according to the Interior ministry.
The attack in Villach, happened around 4 PM on Saturday when a man started stabbing random people with a folding knife, the police in Villach said.
By the time police reached the place in seven minutes, after getting the first call and the time he was apprehended, the man killed a 14-year-old and injured five other people.
The attack was eventually stopped by a 42-year-old Syrian national who saw the violence unfolding, according to the authorities.
“A witness saw the event and decided to intervene — he rammed the perpetrator with his car and thus probably prevented worse things from happening,” said Michaela Kohlweiss, the state police director who is in charge of the investigation, New York Times reported.
Two officers were able to restrain and then arrest the suspect immediately afterward.
The police said on Sunday the suspect did not have a police record and neither had been monitored by the domestic intelligence. During the search of his apartment, however, police found clear evidence of “Islamist thought” and Islamic State flags hanging on the walls, they said, but no weapons or explosives, New York Times noted.
