VIENNA (AP) — Life in Vienna returned to something like normal Wednesday as Austrian authorities investigated whether a 20-year-old man who fatally shot four people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group had any accomplices.
Officials say the suspect, identified as 20-year-old Kujtim Fejzulai, had a previous conviction for trying to join the Islamic State group in Syria and had been released in December. He wounded more than 20 people in nine minutes before he was killed by police on Monday night.
Much of the capital remained shut down well into Tuesday, with authorities saying only in the afternoon that they hadn’t yet found any evidence of a second assailant. Schools reopened on Wednesday.
“Today everything seems to be back to normal, but of course the mood is quite gloomy, as you can understand after such an incident,” Vienna resident Roman Schulz, 21, said. “But I think we must stick together in Vienna. We must not let our joy of life be taken away from us.”
Two men and two women died from their injuries after the attacker, who was armed with a fake explosive vest, an automatic rifle, a handgun and a machete, opened fire at people sitting in crowded bars and cafes hours before the establishments were closed under new coronavirus restrictions.
Authorities didn’t immediately give any new information Wednesday on the investigation. Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said Tuesday that 14 people associated with Fejzulai had been detained in Austria and were being questioned.
Police in the Swiss city of Winterthur said Tuesday two men were arrested there. Swiss daily St. Galler Tagblatt reported that Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter described them as “colleagues” of the attacker.
In Slovakia, police responded to reports that the suspect had traveled there in July to buy ammunition. They said on Facebook that they received information during the summer about “suspected persons from Austria” trying to buy ammunition.
“They failed to make the purchase,” the Slovakian police statement said, without elaborating. “We immediately sent the information to our Austrian colleagues.”
The Islamic State group claimed credit for the Vienna attack. The claim of responsibility was published through the militant group’s media arm, Aamaq. It didn’t elaborate on the attacker’s ties to IS and had similar wording to past, opportunistic claims by the group.
