There was no progress on Halloween evening for passers-by in downtown Linz: dozens of police officers had taken up positions at the intersection of Landstrasse and Promenade, the Taubenmarkt was cordoned off and the McDonald’s branch cleared.
What happened? According to the executive, the first calls came in at around 9:20 p.m. As the police informed the OÖ Nachrichten on site, a group of young people set off firecrackers in the middle of the busy country road. Several concerned witnesses contacted the police, who were on high alert and on site anyway because of the Halloween celebrations.
When the officials wanted to intervene, the night owls behaved aggressively. A riot broke out, in which an officer is said to have been injured. There were no reports of further injuries at the moment. Numerous patrols were called in for support.
“Currently, all available forces from the Linz area are working in the city center,” said the officials on site around 10:15 p.m. Up to this point there had been two arrests. “In order to calm the situation” the place was cleared. The operation was still in full swing around 10:30 p.m. and will last longer, the police said.
Details were not known for the time being. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
Source: Nachrichten
