Amok run in Villach

Witness: “We tried to hold him down!”

A witness describes the dramatic minutes that left the whole of Austria shocked.

(Bild: Jennifer Kapellari, Krone KREATIV)

Villach in shock! After a 23-year-old Syrian apparently randomly stabbed passers-by in the city center on Saturday, fear reigns in the Carinthian town on the Drau. The "Krone" spoke to witnesses and the hero who was able to stop the perpetrator with his vehicle.

The death of a 14-year-old boy from Villach has to be mourned. He did not survive the knife attack by a 23-year-old Syrian. The man, who suddenly attacked passers-by with a knife on Saturday afternoon, also caused four injuries, some of them serious.

"First he was arguing with people in a side street, then he started lashing out and we first tried to restrain him. Then we saw the knife and kept our distance," says Mahir (29), describing the shocking seconds. "It was like a movie!" He and his friend Martin (36) work and live in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene and also know the food delivery man who was able to prevent further horrific acts.

As reported, the rampage was stopped because 42-year-old Alaaeddin Alhalabi didn't hesitate for a second: "I saw a person lying on the ground, a man was attacking other passers-by - I didn't think about it and drove at him," says the courageous Syrian, who probably saved the lives of several people in Villach. 

As a witness, Mahir (29) tells the "Krone" what happened.

(Bild: Jennifer Kapellari)

The LKA collected all the evidence at the crime scene.

(Bild: zVg)

"I couldn't let that happen"
"He wanted to head towards the city center, there were children on the street - I couldn't let that happen. I have children myself," says Alaaeddin Alhalabi in an interview with "Krone". He is also deeply shocked: "If I had been quicker, the 14-year-old might not have died ..."

Mahir witnessed the scenes: "He (the perpetrator, editor's note) was thrown a few meters away and he dropped the knife from his hand when he was hit by the car." After that, everything happened very quickly: "He was apparently injured when the car hit him, he then sat there until the police arrived." Mahir describes what happened as "crazy": "I don't know if he was drunk or what was wrong with him! He went off on everyone."

"Unfortunately, by the time the rescuers arrived, it was already too late for the 14-year-old. We are shocked and saddened that a young person has died," says the 29-year-old in dismay.