The gunman shot dead by police on Monday night in the Austrian capital has been identified as a 20-year-old Islamist who had a criminal record related to contact with the Islamic State, the Austrian government said Tuesday.
Fejzulai Kujtim was released early on parole from a 22-month prison sentence on April 25 last year for attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told local media.
Extensive large raids have already taken place in the vicinity of the perpetrator, with 15 houses searched and several people arrested, Nehammer added.
Kujtim, who had both Austrian and North Macedonian citizenship, was equipped with "a dummy explosive belt and an automatic long gun, a handgun, and a machete to carry out this hideous attack on innocent citizens," Nehammer said.
Four people were killed and 15 others seriously injured in the Vienna shootings on Monday evening, according to local police.
The Chinese Embassy in Austria said Tuesday that a Chinese Austrian was killed and a Chinese citizen injured in the terrorist attacks.
"Stay home if this is possible for work and avoid Vienna's city center in particular. The police are still doing meticulous investigative work here," Nehammer urged the public via a news conference.
