Austria - Church Hostage Taking Leaves 5 Monks Wounded, Vienna Manhunt Ongoing (Video)
The normally quiet and touristy Austrian capital Vienna has seen a slew of criminal activities in the span of a week. Last Friday there was a shooting which left one person dead near its most popular restaurant Figlmüller, famous for serving the original ‘Wienerschnitzel’ and yesterday saw both a bomb threat at a major church in the morning and a hostage situation at another church in the afternoon where 5 monks where held captive for hours.
🇦🇹 — MORE: #Vienna police reporting man/men fired several shots and fled scene. Manhunt ongoing.
Several of them were stabbed and one of the elderly monks is currently in hospital with life-threatening wounds. Police have launched a manhunt but were unable to catch the perpetrators so far.
Monastery
In the Austrian capital Vienna five elderly monks were wounded in a robbery and hostage situation at a monastery and adjacent church. The monks were apparently bound for hours on end as the perpetrators looked for money and other valuables.
BREAKING: Austrian church attacked and religious monks taken hostage – Five seriously injured
"Two unknown perpetrators committed a robbery one several monks in the monastery Maria Immaculata in Strebersdorf (a municipality in Vienna) around 1.30 pm", according to the police statement. "The robbery lasted several hours. At 4.17 pm our colleagues discovered the strained and sometimes badly wounded victims."
According to one of the victims, the robbers demanded valuables and cash.
The police are still in the dark about the precise motive but says that terrorism can be excluded.
All injured monks are older than 60. They were stabbed, according to reports on Twitter, but officially that has not yet been confirmed.
The police have completely sealed off the building complex and launched a manhunt for the perpetrators, thus far without success.
The surroundings of the monastery have been locked down for the general public.
Figlmüller
It comes exactly one week after a criminal shooting at the popular Vienna restaurant Figlmüller which left one person dead and one with life-threatening injuries hospitalized.
According to the popular Austrian newspaper OE24, both victims got a bullet through their heads. The police assume a criminal background for the facts. "It was a targeted assassination," the police said. "A terrorist motive is excluded."
The owner of the restaurant - known for his Viennese cutlets (Wienerschnitzel) - says that the three men had lunch in his place. In doing so, they would not have attracted the attention. After they had left the restaurant, the shots resounded. Accidental passers-by then fled into the stores.
