Shocked Austrians hunt for shooters

VIENNA: A manhunt was under way on Tuesday night after gunmen opened fire at multiple locations across central Vienna, killing at least three people and wounding several more in what Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described as a “repulsive terror attack”.

One of the suspected killers, identified as an Islamic State group sympathiser, was shot dead by police who said they were searching for at least one more assailant still at large.

The attacks, in six locations including near a synagogue in the centre of the city, were carried out by “several suspects armed with rifles”, police said.

The shooting began just hours before Austria was to reimpose a coronavirus lockdown, with people out in bars and restaurants enjoying a final night of relative freedom.

The death toll rose on Tuesday to three people, two men and a woman, police said.

Vienna mayor Michael Ludwig earlier said that 15 people had been taken to hospital, seven of them seriously wounded. A police officer was also hurt during the attacks.

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told a press conference on Tuesday that the dead attacker had links to the terrorist group Islamic State.

“All the signs make it clear it’s a radicalised person and a person who feels closely connected to IS,” Mr Nehammer said.

Police had used explosives to blast their way into the apartment of the dead man who had been “heavily armed”, the minister added.