On Monday, November 2nd, 2020, a 20-year-old man initiated a sudden shooting in Vienna, Austria. Along the streets of Vienna, people were out occupying the local restaurants and cafes. Then, a man suddenly opened fire near Seitenstettengasse, the main synagogue in Vienna, Austria. Initially, the police were unsure as to whether there was a single shooter or if there were several. However, after reviewing several hours of mobile phone footage, the police discovered that the shooter was carrying out the crime alone. Further investigations revealed that the shooter was a dual citizen of Austria and North Macedonia. The authorities later recognized the shooter to be a man who had previously been arrested for trying to flee to Syria to become a part of the Islamic State- an Islamic group that practices a strict religion involving violence. After gathering this vital information, there was major questioning regarding whether or not this man should have been monitored closer considering the fact that he was on the radar of Austria’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Even further questioning was raised when a senior Austrian official informed the people that the authorities of Slovakia had previously informed Austria in July that this man had traveled to Slovakia in an attempt to purchase ammunition for his AK-47, which is an assault rifle.
As far as the details regarding the shooting itself, it began around 8:00 PM and wasn’t brought to an end until 8:09 PM when the shooter was shot dead by a police officer. However, he wasn’t stopped soon enough. By the time the police officers arrived at the crime scene, the shooter had already shot and killed 4 people and injured 23. Of the 23 people that were injured, 13 of them were shot. Of the 4 victims that were killed, 2 of them were females and 2 were males. The first victim was a 24-year-old German female. She was shot in front of a restaurant where she had been working as a waitress. The second victim, a 21-year-old male, was shot and killed near Fleischmarkt. The third victim was a 39-year-old male who was from Austria. He was killed in front of a fast food restaurant located in Schwedenplatz. The final victim was a 44-year-old Austrian female. She did not die until hours after the incident while in the hospital due to her fatal wounds. After intense examination of the crime scene, the authorities concluded that shots were fired from a total of 6 different locations.
Subsequent to the shooting, the shooter himself was identified as an “Islamist terrorist” who had been released from prison early in December. His name was Kujtim Fejzulai. He had been imprisoned for 22 months in April of 2019 for trying to reach Syria in an effort to join Islamic State jihadists. Additionally, he had been convicted of terrorist association prior to this incident. After the shooting, police officers searched Fejulai’s home and found video material. Furthermore, they arrested 14 of the shooter’s friends and acquaintances. An additional 2 men were detained by the police for serving as the gunman’s “colleagues”. On the night after the shooting, it was said by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz that the shooting was “definitely an Islamic terrorist attack... an attack out of hatred, hatred for our basic values.” After further research was conducted, it was found that in July of 202, Fejzulai traveled to Slovakia in an attempt to purchase ammunition for his AK-47. However, his attempt was not successful because he did not have a gun license. After this encounter, the Solvak police notified their colleagues of this man and his suspicious actions. Unfortunately, this case was not properly followed up by the BVT domestic intelligence agency. In response to this, the interior minister of Vienna claims “something obviously went wrong in communication.” When the shooter was released from jail early in December of 2019, the reason given for his early release was that the shooter had persuaded the authorities into thinking that he no longer possessed extreme Islamic views. But, the Derad association, which oversees the deradicalization program in the Austrian prisons, rejected this claim and states that Fejzulai was not ever declared to be deradicalized. They also claim that he was granted strict parole conditions. The shooter's defense lawyer, Nikolaus Rast, stated, “he was a young man who was searching for his place in society, who apparently went to the wrong mosque. I’d never have imagined he could become a killer.”
Personally, I feel that this shooting could have likely been prevented. I think that the Austrian and Slovak authorities should have communicated better and that Fejzulai certainly should have been monitored closer than he was. Additionally, I do not think that he should have been released from prison as early as he was because he did indeed perform suspicious actions relating to terrorism. I also feel that the authorities should not have allowed the shooter to so easily convince that he had simply changed his political views. Prior to this shooting, there was a terrorist attack that recently took place in Paris, France that involved the beheading of a teacher, as well as a knife attack in a church in Nice. This causes me to draw the conclusion that many citizens will not be looking to travel to Europe in the near future.
Do you think that this shooting was planned by the Islamic State? Why or why not?
Do you think that the shooter should have been monitored closer after his release?
How do you feel about the miscommunication between the Austrian authorities and the Slovak authorities?
Sources:
https://www.rand.org/topics/the-islamic-state-terrorist-organization.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/world/europe/vienna-attack-shooter.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54798508
Replies
Savanna,
This is one of the best summaries of a news story I have seen. Well done! With that said, It's not really a hot take and I do think your topic choice wasn't the best. Shooting stories are just hard to bring about good discussion. Perhaps focusing more in just ISIS would have worked better. Overall, however, I can see you put good effort into this so great job!
I think the shooting probably was planned because the Islamic State usually has a lot to do with things like this. I absolutely think the shooter should have been monitored because criminals should always be on watch and not just left alone after their release. I think the Austrian and Slovak authorities should have had better communication because it would've helped them a lot.
I can agree that after the shooter was released that maybe he should be watched like being put on parole or having a office with him most of the time. I think with the miscommunication of the two police authorities that this could have been prevented but also it's hard to tell.
I strongly agree with you that after the shooter was released from prison, he should have been monitored more carefully. Having an officer accompany him would have been a great way to prevent this tragedy from occurring. I also think that the authorities should have displayed better communication skills between one another to prevent this from happening.