At least four people have been killed and 17 wounded after an 'ISIS' gunman opened fire on revellers during Vienna's final night before lockdown.
A huge manhunt involving 1,000 security personnel has been launched to find one attacker who is still believed to be on the run, with neighbouring countries offering assistance.
The gunman opened fire at 8pm close to a synagogue. Armed with an automatic rifle, pistol and machete, he was 'neutralised' at 8.09pm, according to the chief of police.
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said the man was wearing a dummy explosives belt and was an Islamic State sympathiser.
Two women and two men were killed, local media reported. One of the women was a waitress who died of gunshot wounds in hospital, and another who was aged in her 40s later died in the Ottakring Clinic.
One of the male victims was discovered in the meat market, while another was found gravely wounded on Franz-Josefs-Kai.
A police officer was also shot and seriously injured. Vienna mayor Michael Ludwig said 15 people were admitted to hospital, seven with serious injuries.
The rampage came on the final evening before Austria went into lockdown amid rising coronavirus rates, with bars and restaurants in the country closed from midnight and people flocking to enjoy one last night of freedom.
'We experienced an attack yesterday evening from at least one Islamist terrorist,' Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said, adding the attack was an attempt to weaken or divide Austria's democratic society.
He said: 'Austria for more than 75 years has been a strong democracy, a mature democracy, a country whose identity is marked by values and basic rights, with freedom of expression, rule of law, but also tolerance in human coexistence. Yesterday's attack is an attack on just these values.'
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said: 'It is of course a very tense security situation, especially in the federal capital Vienna.
'While we pursue them, they are very well equipped. So automatic weapons, very professionally prepared. It is definitely a terrorist attack.
'There are now 15 victims who are wounded and are currently being treated in the hospitals. There is a policeman who was shot - thank God, not in mortal danger. The situation is still relatively confusing.
'We can't really say anything about the background (to the attack). An anti-Semitic background cannot of course be ruled out, especially because of the location where this terrorist attack started.
'What we know for sure is that there are several suspects, one of whom has so far been eliminated, but some information is still on its way and the danger has therefore not yet been completely averted.'
The 'Islamist' gunmen attacked six locations in central Vienna, starting outside the main synagogue.
Witnesses described the men firing into crowds in bars with automatic rifles, as many people took advantage of the last evening before a nationwide curfew was introduced because of Covid-19.
Police confirmed on Tuesday three civilians were killed in the attacks - two men and one woman - with 15 others wounded, including a police officer.
Police sealed off much of the historic centre of the city overnight, urging the public to shelter in place.
Many sought refuge in bars and hotels, while public transport in the old town was shut and police scoured the city.
Nehammer said the home of the known assailant had been searched and video material seized. Vienna's police chief declined to provide details on the attacker's identity, citing potential endangerment of the investigation.
Shocking videos circulated on social media of a gunman running down a cobblestone street shooting and shouting.
One showed a man gunning down a person outside what appeared to be a bar on the street housing the synagogue.
Nehammer urged Vienna residents to remain in their homes and keep away from all public places or public transport today. He said children would not be expected at school on Tuesday in Vienna.
Czech police said they had started random checks on the country's border with Austria following Monday's attack.
'Police are carrying out random checks of vehicles and passengers on border crossings with Austria as a preventive measure in relation to the terror attack in Vienna,' the police tweeted.
Vienna police urged people to avoid all open spaces and public transport in the city. They also said trams and buses were not stopping and urged social media users not to post videos of the police operation, so as not to endanger officers.
Photos and videos from the scene show police officers searching restaurants, cars and people as part of the manhunt.
Oskar Deutsch, the head of the Jewish community in Vienna, said the shooting took place in the street where the city's main synagogue is located but that it wasn't clear whether the house of worship had been targeted.
The synagogue was already closed at the time of the shooting, Deutsch tweeted. A neighbouring restaurant was also closed.
Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister said he saw at least one person fire shots at people sitting outside bars in the street below his window.
'They were shooting at least 100 rounds just outside our building,' Hofmeister said. All these bars have tables outside. This evening is the last evening before the lockdown,' he added.
'As of midnight, all bars and restaurants will be closed in Austria for the next month and a lot of people probably wanted to use that evening to be able to go out.'
'It sounded like firecrackers, then we realised it was shots,' said one witness quoted by the public broadcaster ORF.
A shooter had 'shot wildly with an automatic weapon' before the police arrived and opened fire, the witness added.
Footage believed to be taken near the scene showed people ducking and weaving as they ran for cover, with shots ringing out.
Reacting to the attack, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: 'I am deeply shocked by the terrible attacks in Vienna tonight. The UK's thoughts are with the people of Austria - we stand united with you against terror.
Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted: 'Deeply shocked and saddened by the incident that has taken place in Vienna this evening. My thoughts are with everyone who has been affected and we stand ready to support in any way we can.'
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Europe would not bow to terrorists following the shootings in Vienna on Monday in which at least two people including one attacker died and several more were injured.
'We French share the shock and sorrow of the Austrian people following the attack in Vienna,' Macron tweeted in both French and German.
'After France, it is a friendly nation that has been attacked. This is our Europe. Our enemies must know who they're dealing with. We will concede nothing.'
US President Donald Trump said in a tweet 'our prayers are with the people of Vienna after yet another vile act of terrorism in Europe.'
'These evil attacks against innocent people must stop. The U.S. stands with Austria, France, and all of Europe in the fight against terrorists, including radical Islamic terrorists.'
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden condemned what he called a 'horrific terrorist attack,' adding, 'We must all stand united against hate and violence.'
Germany's foreign ministry said Monday 'we cannot give in to hate that is supposed to divide our societies' following shootings in Austrian capital Vienna that left two dead, including one attacker, and several injured.
'Even if we can't yet foresee the extent of the terror, our thoughts are with the wounded and the victims in these difficult hours,' the ministry wrote on Twitter, calling the news from neighbouring Austria.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said there was 'no room for hatred and violence in our common European home,' while his foreign minister Luigi Di Maio tweeted that 'Europe must react'.
Austrian public broadcaster ORF cited witnesses saying several shots were first fired shortly after 8pm local time.
Another Austrian newspaper reported the attack was on the street that houses the city's main synagogue.
In 1981, two people were killed and 18 injured during an attack by two Palestinians at the same Vienna synagogue. In 1985, a Palestinian extremist group killed three civilians in an attack at the airport.
In recent years, Austria has been spared the sort of large-scale attacks seen in Paris, Berlin and London.
In August, authorities arrested a 31-year-old Syrian refugee suspected of trying to attack a Jewish community leader in the country's second city Graz. The leader was unhurt.
The attack comes just four days after a knife-wielding Tunisian man beheaded a woman and killed two other people in Nice, France before being shot by police.
Brahim Aoussaoui, 21, allegedly beheaded Nadine Devillers, 60, slit the throat of sexton Vincent Loques, 55, and stabbed mother-of-three Simone Barreto Silva, 44, to death in the horrifying attack.
On October 16, history teacher Samuel Paty was decapitated for showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a civics class discussion on free speech on October 16.
He became the subject of an online hate campaign over his choice of lesson material - the same images which unleashed a bloody assault by Islamist gunmen on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo five years ago.
The father of one of Paty's pupils, who started the social media campaign even though his daughter was not in class when the cartoons were shown, is among seven people charged over the attack.
He had exchanged messages with the killer, 18-year-old Chechnya-born Abdullakh Anzorov, via WhatsApp in the days leading up to the murder.
Ricard said two teenagers - aged 14 and 15 - were also among the those being prosecuted for their part in a group who shared €300-350 (£270-£315) offered by the killer to help identify Paty.
The pair stayed with Anzorov for more than two hours waiting for the 47-year-old father of one even after the killer told them he wanted to 'humiliate and strike' Paty over the Muhammad caricatures, seen as offensive by many Muslims.
Anzorov decapitated Paty with a knife and tweeted an image of the teacher's severed head on Twitter before he was shot dead by police.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
