Victim was armed – brutal attack raises many questions

Around 3:40 p.m., the 57-year-old man was walking down the street in Villach when he suddenly heard a man shouting loudly near the stairs to the Congress Center pedestrian bridge. When he discovered the source of the scream, he saw five men (all between 20 and 30 years old) fleeing up the stairs. “On the stairs he then saw a person who had clearly been beaten by the five men and called the emergency services,” the police reported.

The victim of the assault was an 18-year-old from Villach who, according to police, was so shocked that he could not provide any information about the incident. “Or rather, he said he couldn’t remember anything!”

The seriously injured man was armed
But when officers suddenly found an airsoft gun nearby, the incident became increasingly questionable. The weapon did not belong to the attackers, but to the 18-year-old himself. “He stated that he always carried it with him to defend himself,” an officer said. But the gun didn’t seem to have deterred the gang… The 18-year-old was taken to Villach regional hospital with serious head injuries. “A local search for the five people was unsuccessful,” emergency services said.

In any case, the investigation is now in full swing. The airsoft pistol was confiscated. What led to the beating? What did the victim think he had to defend himself against? And why do five men attack an 18-year-old and beat him to the point where he ends up in the hospital? All these questions need to be clarified by the researchers.