Police raid 18 homes in wake of Vienna murders

GERMAN POLICE have raided the homes and businesses of four people linked to the man who carried out the deadly attack in Vienna this week.

Federal police said officers, including members of the antiterrorism unit GSG9, searched premises in Osnabrueck, Kassel and Pinneberg county.

Police said that while the men were not currently suspected of involvement in Monday’s shooting, there was evidence they had links to the attacker, who was a sympathiser of so- called Islamic State.

Four people and the gunman were killed in the attack and 20 people, including a police officer, were wounded.

German federal prosecutors said two of the men are believed to have met the attacker in Vienna this summer.

They said a third man had contact with him online, while the fourth had no direct contact with the attacker but was in touch with people who knew him.

The prosecutors said they were trying to collect possible evidence during the searches and that nobody was arrested.

Authorities in Austria have identified the attacker as 20- yearold Kujtim Fejzulai, a dual national of Austria and North Macedonia, who had a previous conviction for trying to join IS in Syria and had been given early release in December.

An investigation has been launched into why Austria did not put Fejzulai under observation, despite being tipped off he tried to purchase ammunition in Bratislava in July.

Austrian authorities have searched 18 homes and detained 15 people in connection with the attack.