Trial for shooting in Vienna-Floridsdorf concluded

The subject of the proceedings was a shooting that had occurred in Floridsdorf on October 7, 2023. The police initially even assumed that it was a terrorist attack because several men were lying in pools of blood on the road.

During a so-called confrontation, the defendants had struck down four men from an opposing family with two guns and a knife. Three opposing men were critically injured. A projectile fired by the youngest defendant missed the main artery of a 28-year-old by one centimeter, and then the 22-year-old’s father shot him in the thigh and left upper arm as he tried to flee by throwing a knife. “There is no danger from someone running away. He is defeated. You don’t need to shoot him twice,” said the prosecutor in his closing statement. The 54-year-old was hit by one of the opponents during the escalating confrontation. “He shot in revenge. The hit from a much younger man was an affront,” said the prosecutor, referring to the North Macedonian roots of the accused family.

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Fight over girl

The starting point of the whole thing was a previous physical altercation between the 22-year-old and the 28-year-old on the sidelines of a martial arts event in the Vienna Stadthalle. There, a fight broke out between the two – apparently because the 22-year-old was in love with a girl, which her family did not approve of. After the fight, in which the 22-year-old – who has been practicing martial arts himself for several years and says he trains three times a week – had thrown a lot of punches, the opposing family demanded a so-called discussion.

The meeting in Floridusgasse then led to the incriminated Wild West scenes, with defense attorneys Rudolf Mayer and Manfred Arbacher-Stöger confirming in their statements that the aggression did not come from the defendants, but from the other side. The opponents – three brothers aged 24, 26 and 28, and a 24-year-old relative – are said to have attacked one of the defendants with their fists. “It all happened out of fear of being attacked,” said Arbacher-Stöger, reiterating the defense line, which leaned toward self-defense. “We are galaxies away from attempted murder,” said the lawyer.

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22-year-old shot with pistol

After the 25-year-old defendant had stabbed an opponent in the buttocks and thigh, the 22-year-old fired four shots at three opponents with a Zastava pistol. After the 28-year-old, he shot the 26-year-old, who was also hit in the back and pelvis, and one of the two 24-year-olds, who was shot through the pelvis.

“Of course I regret what I did,” the 22-year-old said in his closing statement before the jury retired to deliberate. He has been working since he was 17 and leads a regular life: “I have goals. I am an electrical engineer. My goal was to be an engineer. It was never my goal to hurt anyone on the street.” He assured one last time that he had shot in self-defense: “I wanted to stop the attacks on me and my family. I never wanted to kill anyone.”

“I’m sorry for what I said,” said the 25-year-old defendant. He stressed that he had “certainly imagined my life to be better than being in prison.” The older brother and father refrained from making any final statements and referred to the findings of their defense attorneys.

The prosecutor insisted on a conviction of attempted murder for the father and two sons. Before today’s hearing, he revised the original charge against the eldest son and restricted it to involvement in the brawl. The 29-year-old is also no longer in custody – unlike his brothers and his father. The verdict is not expected to be announced before 4 p.m.

This article was last updated on June 24, 2024 at 2:10 p.m.