A Syrian national has been arrested after a 14-year-old boy was killed in a stabbing in Austria, which left five others injured.
The 23-year-old suspect, who has legal residence in Austria, was detained by police after the attack in the city of Villach on Saturday.
Four of the victims were men aged between 14 and and 32. Two were seriously injured in the attack, with the other two having sustained minor injuries. Later on Saturday, police confirmed that a fifth man had been injured.
The killers motive is currently unclear but police continue to investigate the attacker’s personal background. "We have to wait until we get secure information," police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio said, adding that a man “randomly attacked passers-by with a knife”.
The incident happened on Saturday just before 4pm local time in the centre of the city in southern Austria. A heroic 42-year old man who works for a food delivery company drove towards the suspect to intervene after witnessing the stabbings in his car, police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio told Austria's public broadcaster ORF.
It is also unclear whether the suspect acted alone, and police are searching for other potential suspects.
Peter Kaiser, the governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia, expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old victim.
"This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values."
Far-right leader Herbert Kickl said on the X social media platform that he is "appalled by the horrific act in Villach" and wished the family of the 14-year-old victim who was killed in the attack "much strength."
"At the same time, I am angry — angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life," Kickl said.
Conservative party leader Christian Stocker said on X that the attacker "must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law."
"We all want to live in a safe Austria, adding that this means political measures need to be taken to "avoid such acts of horror in the future," he said.
The leader of the Social Democrats, Andreas Babler, said on X that "the full force of the law" must be used. "Crimes like this one simply should not happen in our society."
Austria's interior minister Gerhard Karner was expected in Villach on Sunday morning, although it is unclear whether the visit will go ahead.
Villach is a city in southern Austria in the state of Carinthia. It is known for its carnival and is in an area that is a tourist hotspot in the summer as it includes one of Austria's most famous lakes but otherwise attracts little attention.
"I have been in the (Carinthian police) press service for 20 years and cannot recall such an act," Dionisio told ORF.
Erwin Angerer, a lawmaker for the far-right Freedom Party, said his party had been warning about the situation in Austria as a result of the country's "disastrous asylum policy."
