Latest news Man attacks passers-by in Austria - 14-year-old dies
In the Austrian town of Villach, a man stabbed several passers-by, killing a teenager. This was announced by the police.
15.02.2025, 19:41
15.02.2025, 23:05
SDA
The knife attack took place on Saturday afternoon near the main square of the town in the southern province of Carinthia. A 14-year-old boy was killed. In the course of the evening, the police corrected the number of injured from four to five. Two of the five were seriously injured.
Alleged perpetrator is an asylum seeker
According to the police, the alleged attacker is a 23-year-old refugee from Syria who has a residence permit for Austria. A 42-year-old food delivery man, who is also from Syria, witnessed the attack. He hit the Syrian with his car and thus probably prevented the attacker from committing further acts, reported police spokesman Rainer Dionisio. "As a result, we were able to arrest him immediately," he said.
It was initially unclear whether he was a lone perpetrator. Security forces were therefore on the lookout for possible other perpetrators. It was also still unclear whether the attacker and perpetrator were related. The Carinthian State Office for State Protection and Counter-Extremism is conducting the investigation together with criminal investigators.
FPÖ leader: "System failure"
Politicians from various parties reacted with horror. We must "pull out all the political stops to prevent such horrific acts in future", said Christian Stocker, leader of the ruling conservative ÖVP party. Herbert Kickl, leader of the right-wing FPÖ, spoke of a "first-class system failure" and once again promoted his restrictive migration policy under the slogan "Fortress Austria".
