One year after the terrorist attack on November 2, 2020 in Vienna, the police units, which were mainly busy with crime scene work, took stock on Thursday afternoon. The hours of work at the “largest crime scene in Vienna”, which was dealt with in a highly concentrated and meticulous manner, was also “unreal” for the units at first, as they reported at a press conference in the Rossau barracks.
It was challenging to be confronted with reality from the exercise, as one of the defusers reported. Since June 2013, the Disarming Service (ESD) of the Ministry of the Interior has been part of the Cobra Task Force in the Directorate for Special Forces (DSE). In the course of this, the ESD was also equipped with the latest technology.
Because at the beginning of the terrorist attack in Vienna there was only information about a “possible terrorist with an explosive belt”. As it turned out later, it was only a dummy, but the police officers couldn’t see it at first glance. Although the assassin, who killed four people, was “neutralized” after just nine minutes by officers from the Vienna Alarm Department (WEGA), the dead terrorist lay for hours at the foot of the Ruprechtsstiege. Although the man could be photographed and identified with the help of a robot, the defusing service (ESD) was not sure whether he was carrying explosives.
Two of these so-called remote control manipulators – the small robot “Telemax” and the large robot “Teodor” – were used and the terrorist’s body and his shoulder bag were examined. The units did not want to go into detail for criminal tactical reasons and because investigations are still ongoing. However, it was revealed that the approach of the robots took a long time for safety reasons. For example, when the assassin’s bag was lifted by “Teodor”, the device had to freeze the movement immediately, the defuser explained in the APA conversation, in order not to activate a movement trigger or to avoid other booby traps. Then “Telemax” drove up and filmed the contents of the bag, in which there was another weapon and a magazine.
The little robot is responsible for fine motor skills, for example it could open the zips of the bag. “He can even open the cap on a bottle,” said the defuser. “Telemax” was developed after robot battles, “Teodor” comes from the military sector and was responsible for mine clearance. One of these devices costs around 300,000 euros. The ESD has a total of seven pieces. If the explosives belt had proven to be real, it would have had to be brought out of the danger area with the help of the robots and safely blown up. It would also have been possible to secure it with splinter protection blankets and sandbags as a wall in an emergency.
After the scene of the attack was secured a year ago, an explosives officer came to the bomber in order to minimize the residual risk. The policeman was wearing a 50-pound suit and helmet. The freedom of movement and the view were severely restricted as a result. The suit would withstand the detonation of a hand grenade through the inlaid steel plates. If more than half a kilogram of explosives are blown up, the suit can no longer withstand the pressure and the lungs are literally shredded, said the defuser.
Up until 4 a.m. on the night of terror, the ESD people were busy securing the crime scene to such an extent that the forensics could start their work. In this unit, too, an achievement was used for the first time on the night of terror. The 3D laser crime scene documentation was introduced on November 1, 2020, and was used for the first time just one day later. Specialists from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BK) can use it to record the crime scene virtually, true to detail and in three dimensions. The documentation is admitted as evidence in criminal proceedings. This means that the crime scene can be viewed again without entering it again.
All four Viennese crime scene groups were on duty on the night of terror. “You just work with the adrenaline rush,” said investigator Sandra Pertl. It is about securing as many traces as possible, which involved days of work at the huge crime scene. Hundreds of cases from the cartridges fired by the assassin were seized. Almost 600 have been found in the DNA traces alone. “The dimension was not an everyday one,” said Pertl.