Breaking: Fatality confirmed in shooting near Vienna synagogue
This is an evolving story and will be updated as we receive further news.
A fatality has been confirmed in a shooting near Vienna, Austria’s Seitenstettengasse synagogue, the Jewish community’s main temple in the city.
Vienna’s police force confirmed on Twitter that one person had been killed in the attack, and that the police had killed one of the attackers. They also wrote that while the attack began near the synagogue, it had included shots fired at six locations. A police officer was among those injured.
While the exact number of casualties is not yet known, the local hospital association said that a minimum of 15 people had been injured, reported The New York Times.
Details of the event are still emerging. Oskar Deutsch, the head of the city’s Jewish community, wrote in a tweet that the synagogue was closed by the time the shooting began, per The Associated Press. While the synagogue is on the street where the shooting occurred, Deutsch said, it was not yet clear whether it was a direct target of the attack.
AP reported that Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said that one of the attackers had been killed. Another was in custody, The Times reported.
Multiple witnesses say shots were fired near the synagogue beginning around 8 pm, reported ORF, Austria’s public broadcast service. Nehammer confirmed to ORF that the Interior Ministry is currently treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!