Teenager Killed and Five Injured in Islamist Stabbing Attack in Austria

A teenager was killed and five were injured in a stabbing attack carried out by a Syrian asylum seeker in Austria Saturday night. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said it was an “Islamist attack with [Islamic State] connections.”

The 23-year-old suspect is now in custody after attacking passersby with a pocketknife on a street in the city of Villach. A 14-year-old boy was killed and five others were injured, including two 15-year-olds.

An eyewitness explained:

First, [the attacker] argued with people in a side street, then he started hitting around him. We first tried to hold him down. Then we saw the knife and backed away. … He went after everyone.

The attacker was arrested after another Syrian, a food delivery driver, stopped his attack by ramming him with his car.

Islamic State: The suspect was an asylum seeker with a valid residence permit and no previous criminal record, police said. After a raid on his apartment, police found Islamic State flags on his walls and other “clear evidence of Islamist radical thought.”

Karner said the attacker had been radicalized online “in a short space of time.”

New leadership: Immigration and Islamic terrorist attacks have been major issues in Europe. These issues along with other problems have caused many Europeans to cry out for new and stronger leadership, even if that means voting for far-right parties, like Austria’s Freedom Party.

The Freedom Party won Austria’s last election but has been unable to form a coalition government. Facing more terrorist attacks, Austrians, and citizens across Europe, will continue to demand a strong leader.

Learn more: Read “Austria’s Leadership Chaos Spells Trouble for Germany.”