Image: ERWIN SCHERIAU (APA)
The witness who had alerted the police by phone had given her age incorrectly. On the other hand, instead of the two gunmen originally mentioned, only one man could be identified on the surveillance videos. He didn’t have a gun with him, and a voluntary check at his home found nothing.
The witness report had triggered a large-scale police operation and a closure of the shopping center. The police cleared Murpark and searched the shopping center. After a little over an hour, the all-clear could be given, as the State Police Directorate announced on Thursday.
Age incorrectly stated
The complainant is not an 18-year-old, but a 16-year-old from Graz. When she called the emergency services, she gave false information about herself. During the video evaluations that were carried out with her, a man who matched her description was identified. A police patrol had already checked the man yesterday when searching the shopping center. No weapons were found on him.
After researching the man’s data, the 41-year-old from Graz agreed to a voluntary inspection of his apartment, and no weapons or ammunition were found there either. The young witness originally spoke of two men she claimed to have seen in the shopping center – a man with a handgun and one with a long gun.
Further investigation required
A police spokeswoman told the APA that further investigations were necessary due to the diverging information provided by the 16-year-olds. The police operations on Wednesday afternoon in Vienna and those in Graz Murpark were unrelated, it said.
Source: Nachrichten
