At least seven persons were killed and several people, including a police officer, sustained injuries in multiple shootings in six different locations in Austrian capital Vienna, the media reported. The shootings that happened on Monday evening appeared to be a terrorist attack with multiple perpetrators, according to Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, Xinhua news agency reported.
Local media reported that at least seven people were killed in the attack. There were several people injured, the Vienna police said on Twitter. According to a ministry spokeswoman, a police officer was shot and seriously injured in the exchange of fire near Schwedenplatz.
"We are with all possible forces in action," wrote the police on Twitter, calling on people to avoid all public places in the city.
Videos broadcast by private broadcaster "Oe24" showed a masked shooter who fired at least two shots in the street. Another video showed a large pool of blood outside a restaurant.
Oskar Deutsch, President of the Jewish Community of Vienna, said that it is not clear whether the city temple was one of the targets. "What is certain, however, is that both the synagogue in Seitenstettengasse and the office building at the same address were no longer in operation and closed at the time of the first shots," he wrote on Twitter.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, which has experienced two attacks recently, tweeted that "we French share the shock and sorrow of the Austrian people.” Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also "strongly condemned" the shootings. "There is no room for hatred and violence in our common European home," he said on Twitter in Italian and German.
(With inputs from IANS)
