Vienna church attack: 5 injured in suspected robbery by 2 assailants
Austrian's capital has been rocked by an unprecedentedly brazen burglary, after two suspects st..
Austrian's capital has been rocked by an unprecedentedly brazen burglary, after two suspects stormed a monastery church in the northern part of Vienna and robbed it, leaving about a dozen of monks injured.
The crime took place in broad daylight; the perpetrators broke into the Church of Maria Immaculata in Viennas district of Floridsdorf around 13:30 local time (12:30 GMT), police said in a statement.
The robbery lasted for hours, they reported, adding that police have also found “tied and [in some instances] heavily injured” monks only three hours later.
A large-scale manhunt was launched following the incident as major police forces were deployed to the scene as the area around the church was cordoned off. The officers also asked local residents to avoid the area and “let [our] colleagues do their job.”
Gegen 13.30 überfielen derzeit 2 unbekannte Täter mehrere Ordensbrüder in der Klosterkirche Maria Immaculata in #Strebersdorf. Die Tat streckte sich über mehrere Stunden, gegen 16:17 Uhr entdeckten unsere KollegInnen die gefesselten und teils schwer verletzen Opfer.
— POLIZEI WIEN (@LPDWien) December 27, 2018
In a follow-up statement, the police said that at least one of the attackers “demanded valuables and cash” from the monks. The investigators also said they are not treating the incident as a terrorist attack while also admitting that the exact motives behind the robbery are “still unclear.”
The suspects are still on the run and their identities as yet unknown. Police have confirmed that five people, all of them monks, were injured in the attack. One monk suffered serious injuries. Earlier media reports suggested that the number of those injured might amount to somewhere between eight and 15.
The incident comes less than a week after the Austrian capital was rocked by another high-profile criminal incident. One person was killed and one injured in a shootout at a popular tourist restaurant located in a historic quarter of Vienna. At that time, the incident was said to be a “targeted crime” while a terrorist motive was ruled out as well.
Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you.
