2025 Villach stabbing attack
| 2025 Villach stabbing attack | |
|---|---|
 A police car at the scene of the attack | |
| Location | Villach, Austria |
| Date | 15 February 2025 15:33 (CET; UTC+01:00) |
Attack type | Mass stabbing |
| Weapon | Pocketknife |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Injured | 5 |
| Perpetrator |  Islamic State |
| Motive | Islamic extremism |
| Accused | Ahmad G. |
On 15 February 2025, a mass stabbing occurred in Villach, Austria. A 23-year-old Syrian male allegedly carried out a series of random stabbings against six pedestrians. The attack resulted in the death of a 14-year-old boy and injuries to five other individuals.
Attack
[edit]
The attack took place at 15:33 near the historic city center of Villach, when the suspect allegedly began randomly attacking pedestrians with a knife.[1][2] The attack was partially interrupted by the intervention of a Syrian food delivery worker who, upon witnessing the stabbings from his vehicle, reportedly drove toward the suspect in an attempt to prevent further violence. This intervention was later credited by police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio as helping to limit the scope of the attack.[3][4]
The attack resulted in the death of the 14-year-old Alexander Kopeinig[5][6][7] and the wounding of five other people,[3] aged 15 to 36,[8] of which three were treated in intensive care.[9][10] A man from Turkey was among the injured.[11]
Suspect
[edit]Following the attack authorities detained 23-year-old Syrian Ahmad G. while maintaining an active investigation into the possibility of additional suspects. According to witnesses and responding officers, the suspect shouted "Allahu akbar" and showed the Tawhid finger.[12] In the immediate aftermath, police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio, speaking to Austria's public broadcaster ORF, indicated that investigators had not yet determined if the suspect's motive was Islamic extremism or whether the suspect had acted alone, leading to continued searches for potential accomplices.[3]
The suspect held legal residency status in Austria at the time of the attack.[3][13] A day after the attack at a conference in Villach, the interior minister Gerhard Karner said that the suspect was influenced by an Islamic extremist motive and was linked to the Islamic State after being radicalised online and that an Islamic State flag was found in his apartment.[14][15] Police later recovered a recording of the suspect swearing an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State.[15]
See also
[edit]- 2025 Graz school shooting
- 2025 Munich car attack
- 2015 Graz car attack
- 2020 Vienna attack
- 2024 Vienna terrorism plot
- Immigration and crime
References
[edit]- ^ "Austria: Villach knife attack leave teenager dead and four wounded". BBC. 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
- ^ "Boy, 14, dies after five stabbed in Austria". Sky News. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
- ^ a b c d "A 23-year-old man randomly stabs 6 passersby in southern Austria, killing 1, police say". AP News. 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
- ^ Anja Kröll: 23-jähriger Syrer stach mitten in Villach auf sechs Unbekannte ein: 14-Jähriger tot, Salzburger Nachrichten, February 15, 2025; accessed February 15, 2025
- ^ "Alex Kopeinig: Parte, Aufbahrung, Begräbnis, Grabstelle". Pax-Requiem (in German). Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ^ wil, dav. "HTL, Kartfahren – Alex (14) steckte voller Lebenslust | Heute.at". www.heute.at (in German). Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ^ Loibnegger, Klaus (2025-02-22). "Trauertag in Villach: Der schmerzerfüllte Abschied". Kronen (in German). Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ^ IS-Material in Wohnung von Ahmad G. gefunden!, OE24, February 16, 2025
- ^ "Attentat in Villach: Erstes Gutachten über den Syrer liegt vor". www.kleinezeitung.at (in German). 2025-03-16. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ^ Krone, Kärntner (2025-03-03). "Nach Attentat: Opfer auf dem Weg der Besserung". Kronen (in German). Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ^ "Messerattacke: Behörden bestätigen islamistischen Hintergrund". SRF News (in German). 16 February 2025.
- ^ "Klappmesser war Waffe des 23-jährigen Täters" [Folding knife was the weapon of the 23-year-old perpetrator] (in German). KLiCK Kärnten. February 16, 2025. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
- ^ Ahmad G.: Das ist der syrische Amokläufer von Villach, Österreich (newspaper), February 15, 2025; accessed February 15, 2025
- ^ "Austria stabbing 'Islamist attack,' interior minister says". DW. 16 February 2025.
- ^ a b Zivulovic, Borut (17 February 2025). "Austria says stabbing attack suspect swore allegiance to Islamic State". Reuters.
