On the evening of August 1st, a 39-year-old woman from Klagenfurt reported the following to the St. Peter police station: Her son (16) had just called her. On the phone he told his mother that he and his two friends (14 and 17 years old) had just been attacked by several unknown people in the area of Völkermarkter Strasse near the Glan in Klagenfurt.
A police patrol immediately set off. The police met the youth at the crime scene. Two of the friends were seriously injured. At that time there was still no trace of the perpetrators. “One of the guys was hit in the face with brass knuckles. He was badly injured in the ear. The other had severe bruises in the stomach area and even had to be operated on because of it,” says Jasmine Brozek, commander of the St. Peter police station.
The victims described the situation to the officers: the three friends wanted to meet up at the Glan to enjoy their holidays together. “That’s where they came across the group of perpetrators. In the past, there is said to have been an insult between a later victim and one of the perpetrators,” says Brozek. The “offended” recognized his opponent that evening and called “reinforcement”.
Surrounded and attacked
The three victims were then surrounded, attacked, injured and robbed by the youths. “The perpetrators stole a small amount of cash,” reports Brozek. The perpetrators then fled, but returned shortly followingwards and hit the boys once more. In a video taken by the thugs and sent on Snapchat, the victims kneeled on the ground and apologized.
“The biggest challenge for us was investigating the perpetrators. Our colleagues really got behind it for the past few days and we managed to find all the suspects by name,” says Brozek. A 14-year-old from Klagenfurt was identified as a “fear monger”. “Shortly therefollowing, the colleagues were able to locate a 15-year-old Syrian youth,” said Brozek. He is also said to be the main perpetrator and to have struck with brass knuckles.
Researched ten people
A total of ten gang members were finally found. “We already know most of them,” says Brozek. In addition to the man from Klagenfurt (14) and the Syrian (15), there were also a stateless person (17), an Iraqi (16), two Afghans (15, 17), another man from Klagenfurt (17), a Croat (15), a Bosnian ( 15) and a Slovene (16) involved in the crime. “They are currently at large, but they will all be reported. The case will also end up in court. What they did is not a trivial offense,” says Brozek. Further investigations are ongoing. The three injured victims were taken to the Klagenfurt Clinic by the rescue team following the attack.