SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Several people have been injured in central Vienna amid exchanges of gunfire, police said on Twitter on Monday, with local media reporting that a synagogue had been attacked.
“Shots fired in the Inner City district – there are persons injured – KEEP AWAY from all public places or public transport,” the police said on Twitter, according to Reuters.
A police spokesman said a large police deployment was under way in central Vienna.
The editor of newspaper Falter said one person had been killed, citing the Interior Ministry, which was not immediately available for comment.
Newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported that a synagogue had been attacked. It and other media reported shots fired in the area of a nearby square, Schwedenplatz.
Austrian news agency APA quoted the country’s Interior Ministry as saying that one attacker has been killed and another could be on the run, according to AP.
Police said the operation in the center of the city was ongoing and urged people to avoid all open spaces and public transport, AP reported.
Jewish community leader Oskar Deutsch said on Twitter that it was not clear whether the Vienna synagogue and adjoining offices had been the target of an attack, and said they were closed at the time.
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told Austrian broadcaster ORF that the shooting is believed to be a terror attack.
“At the moment I can confirm we believe this is an apparent terror attack,” he said.
