VIENNA – A 23-year-old man stabbed six passersby in South Austria on Saturday.
The suspect was taken into custody in the city of Villach, where the attack took place, police said. They said he is a Syrian citizen with legal settlements in Austria.
Police spokesman Rainer Dionisio said his motivations were not immediately known. He added that police are investigating the attacker’s personal background. “We have to wait until we have safe information,” he said.
The 42-year-old man who works for a food delivery company witnessed the incident in his car, police said. He drove towards the suspect and helped prevent things from getting worse, Dionicio told Austrian public broadcaster ORF.
All the victims were men, with two serious injuries and two minor injuries, police said. Later Saturday, police said the fifth person, a man, was also injured in the attack.
Peter Kaiser, Governor of Austria, expressed his sadness towards the family of the 14-year-old victim.
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“This outrageous atrocity must be met with severe consequences. I have always said it clearly and clearly. People living in Carintosia, Austria, respect the law and our rules and we must adapt to the value.”
Right-wing leader Herbert Kickle said on the X social media platform that he was “applauded by Villach’s horrifying conduct” and wanted the family of the 14-year-old victim who was killed in the attack.
“At the same time, I’m angry. And to politicians who have allowed stab wounds, rape, gang wars and other capital crimes to be ordered in Austria. This is a top-notch failure of the system, and Villach’s The young man now had to pay for his life,” Kickle said.
“The wrong rules are enforced everywhere, from Austria to the EU. No one is allowed to challenge them, everything is declared sacred,” he says, and his party is in his own right. he outlined what he saw as necessary changes to immigration law on his party’s election platform.
“Strict crackdown on asylum is required and conditions like Villach must not be continued to be imported.”
Conservative leader Christian Stocker in X said that attackers must be “taken to justice and punished with the full power of the law.”
“We all want to live in safe Austria, which means we need to take political measures to avoid such fear in the future,” he said. .
Social Democrat leader Andreas Beble said “the full power of the law” must be used in X. “Crimes like this should not simply occur in our society.”
Austrian Home Minister Gerhard Kerner was expected in Villach on Sunday morning, according to Austrian Public Broadcasting Station ORF.
On Sunday, authorities were planning to set up a zone in the city centre for those who want to be sad.
Police said it is not clear whether the suspect acted alone and continued to search for potential additional suspects. It was not immediately clear whether there was any relationship between the attacker and the victim.
According to the Ministry of Interior, 24,941 foreigners filed for asylum in Austria in 2024. The largest group of applicants came from Syria, followed by Afghanistan.
Over the past two years, the number of asylum seekers has dropped significantly. In 2022, applications peaked at over 100,000, but in 2023, around 59,000 people sought asylum.
Several European countries said in December that they had suspended decisions on asylum claims by Syrian citizens due to unclear political situation in their hometown after Bashar Assad’s collapse. .
The issue of migration has taken the central stage in many European countries, with far-right parties entering elections.
In Austria, migration was a prominent topic leading up to last year’s election, resulting in the far-right Liberal Party, securing its first national election victory since World War II.
On Saturday, neighboring German police said the two-year-old girl and her mother died two days after being injured in a car filtration attack at a trade union demonstration in Munich. Over the past nine months, it marked the fifth attack involving immigration in Germany, and immigration has become a key issue ahead of the election on February 23rd.
Stephanie Liechtenstein
