A teenager has passed away and several others have been injured in Villach, Austria. The suspect is in custody in connection with the attack. It is not clear if he knows the victim.
The attack occurred around 4pm local time, killing a 14-year-old and injuring four other people. Police told The Associated Press that two people were seriously injured.
The suspect is a 23-year-old Syrian with a legal settlement in Austria, a local police officer said in an interview with Austrian public broadcaster ORF. It is unknown if he lived in Villach. The motive is unknown, but police are investigating the suspect's background, said Raynor Dionicio, a spokesman for the police station in Carintosia, in the province of Villach.
Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser asked the attackers for “the harshest consequences” and said the assailants “have to be tried, imprisoned and deported.” To all those who sowed hatred and violence, I say: You will not win. ”
Several similar attacks in neighbouring Germany, including last week's car attacks in Munich, have boosted the country's migration to the forefront of its national election campaign.
Millions of Syrians have sought refuge in Europe after a mass uprising against Bashar al-Assad, the authoritarian and longtime leader of the Civil War country that began in 2011. . Large-scale migration has strained Europe's social security net and sparked concerns about assimilation. Assimilation sometimes took the form of open xenophobia and provided openings for the political movement of right-wing nationalists.
The collapse of Assad's regime in December prompted several European countries to suspend legal proceedings regarding the state of Syrian exile. Austria said the plan was to deport Syrians for their failed asylum claims.
Violence is relatively rare in Austria, ranked as the fifth most famous country in the world as of 2023, according to the Global Peace Index.
