A 14-year-old boy was fatally stabbed in a knife attack in the southern Austrian city of Villach on Saturday, with investigators now believing the assault to be motivated by an Islamic extremist ideology. The attack, which has been linked to the Islamic State (IS), was carried out by a 23-year-old Syrian man, according to authorities, who revealed the information on Sunday.
The suspect, who had a residence permit in Austria, allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack, as reported by several Austrian media outlets, citing investigators. The man, who reportedly radicalized online, told investigators in his first interrogation that he acted in the name of the Islamic State.
The Syrian man, who was in the city center on Saturday afternoon, attacked six people with a folding knife, including the 14-year-old boy, who succumbed to his injuries. A 42-year-old food delivery man, who is also from Syria, intervened by running over the attacker with his car, bringing the assault to an end and the 23-year-old was subsequently arrested.