At least 4 victims, 1 assailant killed in Vienna terrorist attack

Vienna after terrorist attack — (Image credit: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images)

A terrorist attack Monday night in Vienna, Austria, left at least five people dead, including four civilians and a gunman Austrian authorities called an "Islamist terrorist" and Islamic State sympathizer. "We experienced an attack yesterday evening by at least one Islamist terrorist, a situation that we have not had to live through in Austria for decades," Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said in an early morning news conference.

Nehammer identified the killed gunman as a 20-year-old Austrian of North Macedonian descent who was jailed last year after being caught trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS. He said police have searched 15 houses and made several arrests. The attacker or attackers killed two men and two women and wounded 17 others, seven of them critically, in the historic center of Vienna as residents enjoyed a night out at bars and restaurants before a COVID-19 lockdown began at midnight.

"It is now confirmed that yesterday's attack was clearly an Islamist terror attack," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said. "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." Condolences and and messages of solidarity and support poured in from the leaders of France, Germany, the U.S., and other nations, plus Muslim religious authorities.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.