On Nov. 2, there was a reported night time shooting in the Austrian capital of Vienna. In the well-popularized area known as the Bermuda Triangle, an armed man forcefully fired destructively in the area in an attempt to break the lively spirit in Vienna. The city had a reputation of being a safe environment, making this attack fairly unexpected. It was merely midnight for the Austrian people, right before the new COVID-19 curfew when the unsettling act of terrorism occurred.

Initially, the large crowds in the area made it hard for police to determine the number of attackers and suspects until they had enough mobile footage to establish that the perpetrator was acting alone. When first getting to the scene, one police officer was shot, along with four dead and more than 20 wounded. 

“They were shooting at least 100 rounds just outside our building,” said witness Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister. 

During the attack, the armed man charged around the neighborhood, shooting in bars, restaurants, and along the outside streets. Witnesses said that they could see the smears of blood on the steps of the Salzamt restaurant. 

This was until eventually, near the St Ruprecht’s Church, he was shot dead at 8:09 p.m. He was allegedly armed with an automatic rifle, a pistol, a machete, and a fake bomb vest. 

Following the shooting, there were six determined crime scenes, and with all of the lives lost and injured, the frightening event was soon spread on the internet as the “nine minutes of terror” in the heart of Vienna. 

“Yesterday’s attack was clearly an Islamist terror attack… It was an attack out of hatred—hatred for our fundamental values, hatred for our way of life, hatred for our democracy in which all people have equal rights and dignity,” said Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz.

Due to the shooting, the people of Vienna were instructed to stay home without school, while around 1,000 police officers kept guard on duty until the next morning. After intense home searches, they ended up arresting 14 others, who turned up as his friends and acquaintances. Flags were put on display as people left flowers and candles on the steps of the attacked areas.

In the aftermath, it was suspected that the Jihadist group, Islamic State, was behind the attack. Authorities identified the gunman as a 20-year-old “Islamic terrorist” named Kujtim Fezulai who was earlier released from jail in December. They had intelligence that he tried to join an Islamic State extremist group in Syria, was arrested as a “foreign fighter”, and was later accused as having a conviction for terrorist association.

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