One dead, four injured in Austria as smiling attacker carries out knife rampage

Eerie pictures taken during the incident and shared on social media show the asylum seeker behind the attack smiling as police moved in to arrest him.

A 14-year-old boy has died and four other people were injured in a knife attack in southern Austria on Saturday local time, police said.

They have arrested a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker over the attack.

Eerie pictures taken during the incident and shared on social media show the man smiling as police moved in to arrest him.

“A man randomly attacked passers-by with a knife,” police spokesman Rainer Dionisio told AFP of the incident in the city of Villach.

“One victim, a 14-year-old boy, died,” he added.

Two other men suffered serious injuries, while another two men were lightly injured, Dionisio added.

The attacker looked pleased with himself as police closed in. Picture: X

Police are seen after a knife attack near the main square in the city centre of Villach, southern Austria on February 15, 2025. Picture: Gerd Eggenberger/ AFP

The incident happened on Saturday just before 4pm local time (2am AEDT on Sunday) in the centre of the city in the Carinthia province.

A food delivery rider, also from Syria, saw the attack and rammed his vehicle into the attacker, who was lightly injured and was arrested “right after the attack”, according to Dionisio.

The man under arrest is a Syrian asylum seeker with a valid residence permit and without a criminal record according to preliminary information, he added.

Governor Peter Kaiser of Carinthia said this attack as an “unimaginable atrocity”.

Candles are lit near a police barrier after the horrifying knife attack. Picture: Gerd Eggenberger/ AFP

A 14-year-old boy died and four other people were injured in the knife attack in southern Austria. Picture: Gerd Eggenberger/ AFP

The youngest victim was a 14-year-old, while the oldest is 32 years old, he said.

The attack comes just two days after a car-ramming attack in the city of Munich in neighbouring Germany.

A two-year-old girl and her mother died Saturday from injuries suffered in that attack which left 37 others injured.

A 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker was arrested on suspicion of deliberately driving a car into a trade union demonstration on Thursday.

Police said he may have had Islamist extremist motives for the attack.

Originally published as One dead, four injured in Austria as smiling attacker carries out knife rampage