German police raid homes of men linked to Vienna attacker
BERLIN — Police in Germany on Friday raided the homes and businesses of four men linked to the Islamic State sympathizer who carried out a deadly shooting in the Austrian capital of Vienna this week.
Austria, meanwhile, announced the temporary removal of several officials over errors made before the attack and ordered the closure of two Vienna mosques that had been visited by the gunman.
German police, including members of the antiterrorism unit GSG9, searched premises in the central city of Kassel, Osnabrueck in the northwest and in Pinneberg county near Hamburg.
Police said that while the men weren’t currently suspected of involvement in Monday’s shooting, there was evidence that they had links to the attacker.
Four people were killed in the attack, and the gunman also died. Twenty others, including a police officer, were wounded.
German federal prosecutors said that two of the men whose premises were searched were believed to have met the attacker in Vienna this summer. A third man had contact with him online, while the fourth had no direct contact to the attacker but was in touch with people who knew him.
Authorities in Austria have identified the attacker as Kujtim Fejzulai, 20, a dual national of Austria and North Macedonia who had a previous conviction for trying to join the Islamic State group in Syria and had been given early release in December.
An investigation has been launched into why Austria didn’t put Fejzulai under observation despite being tipped off by Slovakian authorities that he had tried to purchase ammunition in July.