Austrian ambassador says country in ‘complete shock’ after Vienna shooting

The Austrian ambassador to Ireland, Dr Thomas Nader, has said his country is in "complete shock" following a gun attack in the country's capital on Monday night.

At about 8pm on Monday night, dozens of shots were fired outside Vienna’s main synagogue. The attack left five people dead and 17 injured.

Austria police said the suspected gunman was a 20-year-old Islamic State sympathiser. Wearing an explosive vest, the man was shot and killed at 8.09pm by Austrian special forces.

Before the attack, he announced on social media platform Instagram his allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi.

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Speaking to The Irish Times, Ambassador Nader said the attack was “completely incomprehensible”.

“How can one be after an attack like that? Not good. We are all in complete shock. I have family and friends over there, but fortunately they are in good health. That doesn’t decrease the grief. I know the area, I grew up there. I walked those streets,” he said.

“If you can picture this. We have further Covid restrictions today. From tonight there will be a curfew from 8pm until 6am. Yesterday evening was a very fine, ordinary evening. It’s the last occasion to meet before lockdown and then someone starts shooting. It’s completely incomprehensible. You go out for a late beer and then you get injured.”

‘Surprise’ attack

The ambassador said the attack “came to all of us as a surprise”, as the country does not engage or allege itself with any military activity.

“Austria is a neutral country. We have good relations with all of the religions. Austrians just can’t understand why [this happened].”

He added that it is “still early days” in terms of understanding why this happened as Austrian police continue to investigate the attack.

“There are many reasons why people become extremists. I’m not sure we can ever do anything to prevent extremists,” he added.

Dr Nader said there has been an “outpouring of support”, and he thanked the Irish people in particular for their solidarity.

“I’m just responding to messages now. I’ve received so many emails and Whatsapps. We are very grateful,” he said.

He added that it was “great to see” how many countries and neighbours care for Austria.

“Part of the reason behind this support is because of the that type of attack threatens a certain way of life. It means the EU is being attacked. If Austria is attacked, many countries who share our values are attacked,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said there were no reports of Irish casualities in the incident.

Viennese police said on Tuesday morning that they had raided addresses linked to the gunman and made several arrests.