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| People mourn at the site of stabbing a day after an attack that killed a 14-year-old dead left and five other people injured, in Villach, Austria, on Sunday. |
A Syrian asylum seeker is suspected of carrying out a deadly stabbing spree in the Austrian town of Villach, leaving a 14-year-old dead and five others injured. Authorities believe the man, arrested shortly after the attack, was radicalized online and has sworn allegiance to Islamic State (IS).
According to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, the 23-year-old Syrian man had rapidly become radicalized and an IS flag was found in his apartment. Karner stated that the man had pledged his loyalty to the terrorist group.
The attack took place on Saturday, and police confirmed that the 14-year-old boy died from injuries sustained during the rampage, while the five other victims were injured. The incident follows the foiling of a planned suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last August by a teenager who had also pledged loyalty to IS.
This stabbing spree comes just days after another attack in Munich, Germany, in which an Afghan national drove into a crowd, injuring dozens and causing two deaths.
The violence in Austria coincides with rising political tension, as the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which won the September parliamentary elections, has been unable to form a coalition government. The FPO has used the Villach stabbing as a point of criticism, with leader Herbert Kickl blaming illegal immigration for the violence.
Kickl said in a statement, "No migrant would be able to commit murder or any other crime in our country if they were not in Austria in the first place."
As political parties in Austria continue to discuss forming a government, the president is considering options, including the possibility of a snap election.
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