Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told Austrian broadcaster ORF: ‚It appears to have been a terror attack.‘

He added that the perpetrators were ‚heavily armed and dangerous‘ and the army had been asked to guard key locations in the city to allow police officers to pursue the attackers.

‚We have brought several special forces units together that are now searching for the presumed terrorists. I am therefore not limiting it to an area of Vienna because these are mobile perpetrators,‘ Nehammer said, urging the public to stay indoors until the all-clear is given.