Austria: Syrian man leaves one teen dead and four injured in knife attack

A 14-year-old teenager was killed and four other people were injured in a knife attack that occurred in Austria. The event took place in the afternoon in the town of Villach and local authorities arrested a 23-year-old Syrian man. After the attack, a photo of the assailant smiling before he was arrested by the Austrian police went viral.

According to initial reports, the suspect began randomly attacking people in the street, until a witness ran him over with his car. The only fatality was a 14-year-old teenager, while there are two seriously injured and two others with minor injuries.

According to local media Salzburger Nachrichten, "witnesses report that the man shouted 'Allahu Akbar'," after stabbing people.

Local authorities are investigating the attacker's motives, whether he had accomplices and any relationship with the victims was maintained. "We cannot rule anything out. We are examining the immediate vicinity to get information to pinpoint the motive. So far we can only speculate. That is why we need reliable information," explained Rainer Dionisio, police spokesman, in statements to ORF public television.

In turn, the aforementioned media explained that the person who ran over the aggressor to stop him is a food delivery man who just happened to be passing by the place. "To prevent something worse from happening, he simply ran over the 23-year-old. In any case, he did the right thing," continued Dionisio, who added that the driver was unharmed.

As for the investigation, it is in the hands of the State Office for State Protection and Counteracting Extremism and the Carinthia State Criminal Police Office.

Villach is a town located about 350 kilometers south of Vienna. It is estimated to have a population of almost 60,000.