Austrian security officials have named twenty-year-old Kujtim Fejzulai, a dual citizen of Austria and North Macedonia, and whose parents are ethnic Albanians, as the gunman, Sky News reported.

In April 2019, Fejzulai was sentenced to prison for twenty-two months because he had attempted to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group. He was released in December under the nation’s juvenile law and had been in a “deradicalisation programme” run by an NGO.

The Monday evening attack occurred close to the main synagogue in the Austrian capital city — the first shots were fired at approximately 8 p.m. — and took place on the final night of open restaurants before another lockdown was to start in the central European nation in response to COVID-19. 

Austria’s interior minister, Karl Nehammer, described the suspect as an Islamic State sympathiser and said that an operation to find any other suspects was ongoing, noting that special forces from neighbouring nations were assisting with the investigation.

Source: christianpost.com