Vienna shooting: five people dead as first suspect identified as having a previous terror conviction

Five people including an assailant have died and 17 others are wounded after a shooting in the heart of Vienna hours before a coronavirus lockdown started, Austrian authorities said.

Three people investigate at the scene following last night's terror attack.

The dead attacker was a 20 year-old Austrian-North Macedonian dual national who had a previous terror conviction.

The attacker, named as Kujtim Fejzulai, was sentenced to 22 months in prison in April 2019 because he had tried to travel to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State group. He was

granted early release in December under juvenile law.

A police officers walk near ambulances at the scene after gunshots were heard, in Vienna.

Two men and two women died from their injuries after the attack on Monday evening, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said. The suspected attacker was shot and killed by police.

Vienna's hospital service said seven people are in life-threatening condition after the attack, the Austrian news agency APA reported. In total, 17 people are being treated in

hospital, with gunshot wounds and cuts.

Mr Kurz said: "It is now confirmed that yesterday's attack was clearly an Islamist terror attack.

"It was an attack out of hatred - hatred for our fundamental values, hatred for our way of life, hatred for our democracy in which all people have equal rights and dignity."

Interior minister Karl Nehammer later said that the dead assailant, who had roots in the Balkan nation of North Macedonia, had a previous conviction under a law that punishes

membership of terrorist organisations.

15 house searches have taken place and several people have been arrested, Mr Nehammer said, adding that the attacker "was equipped with a fake explosive vest and and an

automatic rifle, a handgun and a machete to carry out this repugnant attack on innocent citizens".

Authorities are still trying to determine whether further attackers are on the run. People in Vienna have been urged to stay at home if possible today and children did not have to go

to school. Some 1,000 police officers were on duty in Vienna on Tuesday morning.

Among those wounded in the attack was a police 28 year-old officer, he is in hospital but is no longer in a life-threatening condition.

The shooting began shortly after 8pm on Monday near Vienna's main synagogue as many people were enjoying a last night of open restaurants and bars before a month-long

coronavirus lockdown, which started at midnight.

Vienna police chief Gerhard Puerstl said the attacker was killed at 8.09pm.

Mr Kurz said: "We are victims of a despicable terror attack in the federal capital."

His government on Tuesday ordered three days of official mourning, with flags on public buildings to be flown at half-mast until Thursday.

Unverified footage posted on social media showed a gunman walking through the streets, apparently shooting at people at random, wounding several.

Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister said he saw at least one person shoot at people sitting outside at bars in the street below his window near the city's main synagogue.

"They were shooting at least 100 rounds just outside our building," he said. "All these bars have tables outside. This evening is the last evening before the lockdown."

Authorities said residents have uploaded 20,000 videos of the attack to police.

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