A “Viennese” teenager was planning a terrorist attack with a knife at the main railway station in Vienna, but abandoned his plan at the last minute. The misguided youth had previously declared his devotion to the Islamic State. It’s not clear why he changed his mind.

Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from the Austrian news portal Heute:

16-year-old on verge of knife bloodbath at railway station

by Rene Findenig
September 19, 2023

Gruesome details to come to light on the revealed attack plans of a 16-year-old in Vienna. The young man canceled the plan shortly before the crime.

Over the weekend, a frightful report caused a stir. The Office for Protection of the Constitution had been investigating a 16-year-old Islamist (originally, there was talk of a 17-year-old), who in a chat group, reportedly expressed concrete attack plans in Vienna. According to the Interior Ministry, the young Austrian also shared a picture of himself that showed him in relevant clothing with a combat knife in his hand, while, with the other hand, he is giving the ISIS sign. He himself described himself as a strict Islamic believer and also loudly confessed the attack plans in his interrogation.

Now the gruesome details are becoming known — and just how narrowly the federal capital escaped an attack. As Der Standard reports, the 16-year-old had planned to set off a firework at the Vienna Central Railway Station, and then stab the fleeing people with a knife. Shocking. The 16-year-old actually stood in the Vienna Central Train Station with a knife “with a longer blade” and a firework but broke off his plan in the last second. Instead, the young man went to a mosque and spent the night there.

Vienna attacker as role model

Further bizarre details of the case. The combat knife was reportedly acquired by the 16-year-old shortly before his visit to the Central Railway Station, he announced the act in a chat group, that the Austrian with Turkish roots accepted he would die in the act, and that the Vienna attacker of November 2, 2020, who shot four people in the federal capital and injured several, was described to the authorities as a great role model by the young man. The young man was radicalized over the Internet, as Der Standard reported with reference to security authorities.

The young man also reportedly named the attackers of Paris and Berlin as role models. Side detail. The young man had chosen September 11 as the day of the aborted attack — on September 2021 [sic], there were 2,996* victims killed in the terror attack in the USA. The young man was arrested last Tuesday on the street just one day after the aborted attack. The knife was reportedly seized from him. On Thursday pre-trial detention was imposed. Investigations in the case continue.