Austria - Three killed, 36 injured in Graz SUV attack, 20 June 2015

[zwiebel]

A 26-year-old with a history of mental health problems has run amok in an SUV in the center of the town in Graz, Austria. Three people, including a woman and 7-year-old child have been killed and at least 50 have been hurt in the horrific scene that left crushed bicycles, blood and the damaged SUV in the middle of a shopping street.

The suspect, who also stabbed either a police officer or a passerby, is in custody.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...fore-stabbing-passersby-in-graz-10333891.html

German:
http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/just...ann-rast-mit-auto-in-passanten-a-1039877.html

 

[zwiebel]

Awful scene.

[video=twitter;612238444933218305]https://twitter.com/newsbellglobal/status/612238444933218305[/video]

 

[zwiebel]

This is a local journalist stating officials say this is not a terrorist attack and that the suspect has a history of psychiatric problems.

[video=twitter;612251224918859776]https://twitter.com/ThoRossa/status/612251224918859776[/video]

 

[zwiebel]

I believe the reason authorities have been so quick to point out that the suspect is an Austrian citizen with a history of psychiatric problems is because many people appear to be blaming this tragedy on 'multikultur' - multiculture. His (rumored) links to Serbia are gathering attention because it follows hot on the heels of Hungary's recent announcement that it will build a new 110-mile-long 'iron curtain' (fence) to stop illegal immigrants entering from that country.

 

[zwiebel]

Center of Graz looks just like my local town, right down to the tram lines and bicycles. Such horrible news.

 

[zwiebel]

Graz attacker drove his vehicle at the crowd at around 60 miles an hour. This article (in English) says many of the injured are critical but puts the number of those hurt at around 34.

http://www.dw.de/vehicle-plows-into...z/a-18528986?maca=en-TWITTER-EN-2004-xml-mrss

 

[zwiebel]

The suspect is of Bosnian ancestry - but left during the war when he was only four and has lived in Austria since then. It really doesn't seem his country of origin will prove of any relevance. What may be more important is he was recently removed from his house because of domestic violence.

The mayor of Graz rushed to the scene to help and saw a woman die. Three children are among the injured victims but that's all I have managed to find out about their condition, I'm afraid. I hope they all survive.

German language:
http://derstandard.at/2000017779439/Amoklauf-in-Graz-Straches-Offenbarungseid

 

[zwiebel]

The latest update I can find is that six people remain critical. A four-year-old boy, a 25-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man were killed. The man was a newlywed and his wife is in a coma, family have told media.

I really hope it doesn't prove relevant, but this attack took place near a synagogue. The suspect is in the middle of a marriage breakdown. He is a professional driver.

http://www.kleinezeitung.at/s/steie...enstadt_Ein-Todesopfer-war-frisch-verheiratet

ETA: On the poster it says 'Married two weeks'

 

[zwiebel]

I am also wondering if the bride in the photo wore a headdress all the time. If she did, she would have stood out a little in the crowd and it doesn't seem impossible that she and her husband were deliberately targeted.

 

[zwiebel]

Media in Bosnia are reporting the deceased newlywed woman is also from Bosnia, as is her husband who is in a coma. He is named as Addis Dolić, she is Adis Dolić. Maybe it is just a coincidence that both the suspect and two of his victims have links to the same country. Maybe there is a concentration of immigrants in the area of Graz where he attacked. I don't know.

Apparently he screeched around the streets, hitting many people, before striking the Dolićs. Then the mayor, who was in the town square at the time, says the suspect spotted him and drove at him. People had to run and hide in buildings to get away. All the reports say he exited the car armed with a knife. The mayor is named Siegfried Nagl. I don't think that surname originates from Bosnia, but it sounds as though maybe it originates from Hungary or somewhere outside of Germany.

I'm not convinced this wasn't a targeted attack yet, or a hate crime against the immigrant community in Graz, by a member of that community, sadly.

Bosnian:
http://www.jutarnji.hr/stravicna-tr...ginuo-nekoliko-dana-nakon-vjencanja-/1370219/

German:
http://www.kleinezeitung.at/s/steie...enstadt_Ein-Todesopfer-war-frisch-verheiratet

Website for the mayor. He looks a very compassionate man. The right person to lead Graz at this time.
http://www.graz.at/cms/ziel/245305/DE/

ETA: The correct, full name for Bosnia is Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) but I've used the shorter abbreviation.

 

[Rikissa]

Alen Rizvanović, the driver of the car, was sentenced in 2016 to a life sentence, as there were indications that the crime was premeditated. He committed suicide in prison in September 2023.

2015 Graz car attack - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org