Man attacks off-duty officer with kitchen knife in Vienna

A 29-year-old man attacked and injured an off-duty police officer with a kitchen knife in Vienna’s Ottakring district on Tuesday, ORF reported. The men did not know each other.

The 37-year-old officer had finished jogging and was stretching in the entrance to a building on Hasnerstraße when he noticed the man approaching quickly with a knife. The attacker said nothing before striking.

The officer fought back and shouted for help. The knife blade broke several times during the struggle, and the officer’s resistance helped limit the severity of his injuries, police said. Passers-by heard his calls, prompting the attacker to stop and flee towards Ottakring underground station.

Emergency services treated the officer and took him to hospital. Police recovered the knife at the scene and searched for the suspect. Officers from the Wattgasse and Brunnengasse police stations found and arrested him on Wernhardtstraße, using a description and surveillance-camera images.

The Syrian citizen admitted the attack but did not explain his motive. Police said he appeared psychologically distressed during questioning.