At least three people, including one suspect, have been killed and several others injured after multiple gunmen opened fire near a synagogue in central Vienna.
Several shots were fired at the Stadttempel synagogue at about 8pm on Monday, local time, before an unknown number of gunmen armed with automatic weapons fired across six different locations, police said. Authorities have labelled the incident a terror attack.
Special forces units are hunting for one of the gunmen, with authorities urging people to stay away from the city centre. International borders have been reinforced and children will be permitted to stay home from school, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said in a press conference on Tuesday.
The military has been brought in to protect key sites across the capital so police could focus on anti-terror operations, he added.
Austrian police guard visitors at Vienna State Opera as they leave a subway station after the attack. Source: AAP
At least 15 people, including a police officer, were taken to hospital, of whom seven were seriously injured, Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig told local media. One of the assailants was shot dead by law enforcement, police said.
Mr Nehammer described the shooting as an "apparent" terror attack, days after three people were killed at a church in Nice in southern France.
“We have brought several special forces units together that are now searching for the presumed terrorists. I am therefore not limiting it to an area of Vienna because these are mobile perpetrators,” Mr Nehammer said.
At the same press conference, the general director for public security Franz Ruf said there would be police cordons across central Vienna. Authorities have given no indication of the identity of the assailants or reason for the attack.
“We really can’t say anything about the background yet,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told Austrian public broadcaster ORF. “Of course an anti-Semitic background cannot be ruled out.”
Hours earlier, Mr Kurz said the country would not be intimidated by violence, labelling the shootings a "repulsive terror attack".
"I am glad that our police officers have already been able to eliminate a perpetrator. We will never allow ourselves to be intimidated by terrorism and will fight these attacks resolutely by all means," he said on Twitter.
Police have urged Vienna residents to stay indoors, seek refuge if outdoors, keep off public transport and refrain from sharing photos or videos of the incident while it was unfolding.
"DO NOT post videos and photos in social media, this endangers both emergency services and the civilian population," they said.
The president of Vienna's Jewish community, Oskar Deutsch, said shots had been fired "in the immediate vicinity" of the Stadttempel synagogue but added that it was currently unknown whether the synagogue itself had been the target of an attack.
The synagogue and office buildings at the same address had been closed at the time of the attack, he said.
"It sounded like firecrackers, then we realised it was shots," said one eyewitness, quoted by ORF.
A shooter had "shot wildly with an automatic weapon" before the police arrived and opened fire, the witness added.
Bars and restaurants in Austria's capital were packed at the time of the attack as residents enjoyed a final evening out before the country returned to coronavirus lockdown.
'This is our Europe'
European leaders have condemned the shooting, the second European terror attack in a week, as French President Emmanuel Macron said he shared the shock and pain of Austrians.
"After France, it is a friendly country that is under attack. This is our Europe. Our enemies need to know who they are dealing with. We won't give in to anything," he said.
Germany's foreign ministry echoed a similar sentiment, declaring "we cannot give in to hate".
"Even if we can't yet foresee the extent of the terror, our thoughts are with the wounded and the victims in these difficult hours," the ministry wrote on Twitter, calling the news from neighbouring Austria "horrifying and disturbing".
Meanwhile, Czech police said they have started random vehicle checks along the country's border with Austria as a "preventative measure" and stepped up surveillance on Jewish locations.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis also tweeted his condolences over the attack near the Stadttempel synagogue.
"I am horrified by the attack on the Vienna synagogue and I want to express my solidarity to all people in Austria and my friend [Austrian Chancellor] Sebastian Kurz," he tweeted.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had contacted Chancellor Kurz to express his condolences on Tuesday, warning that the "situation remains fluid and details of the attack are still not clear".
"We pray for, and stand firm with, our Austrian friends against acts of violence, terror and intimidation, and all they seek to undermine," he wrote on Twitter.
Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said "Europe must react" following the "cowardly attack", while European Union Council chief Charles Michel said the organisation "strongly condemns this cowardly act that violates life and our human values".
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who said he was following the events in Vienna with "grave concern", condemned the attacks in the "strongest possible terms".
Additional reporting: Reuters, AFP
