Chronicle
A young woman triggered a large-scale police operation at the Murpark shopping center in Graz on Wednesday afternoon: the 16-year-old reported an armed man in the center. Now a man was being traced – he had no guns and never had any with him.
The young woman – first claims that she was 18 years old were corrected on Thursday – had allegedly seen an armed man and raised the alarm with the police via mobile phone; she gave false information about herself.
Scoured store by store
A large contingent of special forces with assault rifles and heavy protective equipment as well as police officers cordoned off Murpark and the center was cleared; Subsequently, shop by shop was systematically combed through.
A total of around 60 police officers were deployed – and after around an hour the all-clear was given: according to the police, no suspicious people with firearms were found.
Video evaluations led to 41-year-olds
During the video evaluations, which were carried out together with the 16-year-old, a man who fit the description was finally discovered – he had already been checked on site when the shopping center was searched, and no weapons were found.
After the man was investigated, officials went to his home address – there the 41-year-old from Graz agreed to a voluntary inspection: But no weapons could be found in his apartment either.
“Prank call” could be expensive
According to the police, further investigations are necessary due to the divergent information provided by the 16-year-old reporter. The police operations on Wednesday afternoon in Vienna and those in Graz Murpark were unrelated, it said on Thursday.
In the event that the alarm was a “joke call”, one could be held responsible, as the police said on request. Under certain circumstances, this would also affect the costs of deploying around 60 officers.
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